Always Together, Forever
by MiraLake
Summary: After the Barcelona Grand Prix Final, Yuri discovers a secret about Victor and when he attempts to find out more, he unwittingly causes Victor leave him. To fix their broken relationship, Yuri lets Victor explain, in all honesty, his secret: the story of him and his very first student. But will it fix their relationship? Or will it break it more? (*END OF BACKSTORY: CH. 24)
1. Harmless game of 20 questions, right?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yuri On Ice, or any of the characters. This fanfic is based on that show and any OCs in here are made by me.**

 **Hello, everybody! Welcome to my first fanfiction of YOI! I just finished the final episode and I'm mildly satisfied with what happened. With the coming of season 2, I thought 'why not begin writing something that could possibly happen in between the seasons?'**

 **I know that some people may like things canon over non-canon, but I hope you guys will enjoy this fanfic in general and don't try to insert it into the timeline of YOI. It's something that I've been wanting to write in a long...ever since I saw episode 7, I've been wondering why Victor's coach, Yakov is so upset that he left this season.**

 **I mean, given how long Victor was in the game for and the number of wins he had over the years, I would think that Yakov would be proud of his student. As a figure skater in real life, I know that achievements like Victor's are really hard to get. And if he found motivation and inspiration in someone else, he would want to help that person be the best they can be.**

 **So why was Yakov so against Victor leaving? Other than not having their strongest competitor anymore to bring home medals for Russia to put in the hall of fame anymore...**

 **I would say that it's because Yakov knows that Victor isn't coach material. And we've seen that sometimes over the series. A prominent example being how Victor didn't know how to deal with Yuri's anxiety. That could be due to inexperience or his inability to understand different skater's point of views.**

 **Sorry, if this is getting kind of long...if you don't want to read this whole description, just skip ahead to the story. Oh and just a reminder, that I'm in the Victuri boat. (If you see anything in this story that says otherwise, it doesn't mean that I don't ship them, ok?)**

 **Great! Enjoy the story.**

* * *

 **Ch 1: Harmless game of 20 questions...right?**

The Grand Prix Final was finally over. The result was a bittersweet ending. Yuri Katsuki looked out the large window of his hotel room, which gave him an amazing view of the city of Barcelona. Though he already mentioned to himself that this was his first time here, Yuri was still in awe of the brightly lit-up city.

Shining like gold in the night.

"Gold...at least a five-time World champion…" Yuri pondered to himself silently. "Come on! Is that really necessary to make it up for Victor's comeback next season?"

 _Bzzz! Bzzz!_

The sound of Yuri's phone vibrating echoed throughout the room. He immediately rushed over the dresser where his phone lay on top. Turning it on, he could see the caller appear on his screen.

It was Phichit.

Yuri touched the answer button, "Hey, Phichit. What's up?"

"Yuri! You have to get down here! We're being swarmed by dozens of reporters and fans who've been trying to devour us the entire night just to find out where you are! Come down here and save us already!" Phichit yelled.

"I already told you. I don't wanna ever go to another after-competition banquet again! If you guys can't handle the crowd, then why don't you just—"

Another voice shouted over the phone. "Pork cutlet bowl, you get down here right now! Or I'll destroy you at next year's World Championships! Ya hear me? Destroy!" Yurio shouted at the top of his lungs.

His voice was barely audible due to the high shrieks of fans in the background and the endless clicks from the cameras. Yuri's body went rigid upon hearing the threat. He knows that Yurio is just that kind of a person, but that didn't stop him from feeling frail and fragile. Changing into the suit Victor bought for him, Yuri took several deep breaths to calm himself down.

"The same thing won't happen again. The same thing won't happen again. The same thing won't happen again!" Yuri repeated to himself.

Grabbing his coat and putting on his shoes, Yuri reached for the front door of his hotel room. Before he could touch the doorknob, the door itself flew open and hit him smack in the face.

Victor's cheerful face showed up, his arms loaded with shopping bags of all kinds of miscellaneous items the city had to offer.

"Yuri! Where are you? I wanna go down to the banquet. Are you already dressed? Are you wearing that new suit I bought you? Oh."

Looking down, Victor sees an unconscious and rather silly-looking Yuri sprawled on the floor. Dropping all of the shopping bags, he picks the fallen Japanese skater back to his feet and wraps his arm around his neck.

"This is no time to be sleeping, Yuri! This is the time to celebrate!"

* * *

 _At the banquet hall._

The group of skaters all sat together at one large reserved table. They were lucky that Chris managed to twist his thumbs around and get them a much quieter spot where they could properly enjoy themselves and just socialize.

Yuri sat awkwardly between Victor and Chris. Who were both sitting dangerously close to him. He could feel his face growing warmer with each passing second. It was Yurio who finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Well? Pork cutlet bowl? Are you still gonna retire?" He demanded.

"Retire? No way he's gonna retire. Right, Yuri?" Phichit asked from across the table.

Yuri scratched the back of his head, "Well, not yet—"

"Especially since he hasn't landed a quadruple axel yet! So he can't retire!" Victor chimed in.

Yuri almost jumped out his seat.

"Quadruple axel? QUADruple AXEL?"

Chris shrugged his shoulders, laughing. "Who knows? Anything's possible. Just look at the feats you've risen to ever since Victor started coaching you. Maybe a quadruple axel is just an arm's reach away…"

Yurio was getting a little sensitive over their discussion of landing a jump that has never been landed in competition before. "It's not an arm's reach away. Any hard-working skater knows that. It's gonna take time, practice, and dedication. You're gonna have to sacrifice eating, sleeping, schoolwork, spare time—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Even women?" JJ asked in a shocked voice, a sarcastic shocked voice.

The Canadian skater was waiting for the perfect moment to jump into the conversation. After his disastrous short program, JJ wanted to bring himself closer to the rest of the competition and lower himself from his high horse for awhile.

Otabek and Phichit, who were sitting next to JJ, were in shock from this once overly-arrogant skater's desire to fit in. Phichit burst out into a fit of laughter after hearing JJ's remark. Chris shook his head at Yurio in disappointment.

"Yuri Plisetsky...tsk, tsk, tsk. I expected more of you at age fifteen. You shouldn't just throw your life away like that. Especially when you're still young and could explore the wonders of the world freely! You have to stop and look around. Look at what's going on around you. Smell the flowers a bit, look at the sky...admire a pretty girl," Chris suavely explained.

Yurio growled as half of the skaters at the table began laughing. He was going to make them take him seriously.

"Oh yeah? Well, no wonder you didn't place on the podium this time. Maybe you were just too distracted by the females in the audience!" Yurio shot back.

Chris shook his head calmly. "Not at all. It's one thing admiring beautiful women. But it's another being in an actual relationship. That's where the distractions would come in. You would know that, Yuri Plisetsky, if you've been in a real relationship."

Otabek saw the uncomfortableness in Yurio's eyes, despite his fierce exterior appearance. He could sense how hard he's struggling internally. Though he isn't much of a talker, Otabek enters the conversation just for Yurio's sake. "What's so bad about never being in a real relationship, Chris? Yuri Katsuki here probably never been in one either."

Yuri's eyes opened wide and his face went up several degrees Celsius. He felt sweat dripping down his back and completely soaking his tuxedo. It was an awful feeling. Well, not exactly awful, but just uncomfortable. Victor became interested in the direction this conversation is heading towards, thanks to Otabek. He gazed at Yuri from his resting position on his propped elbow.

"Eh. Otabek's right. Back then, when I was asking about your personal life, Yuri. I don't remember you ever mentioning a special somebody you had maybe once. I assumed that it was Yuko the first time I saw her, but then I saw that she's already married and has three kids. So I don't know anymore, Yuri. Why don't you tell us about your love life?" Victor asked.

Phichit nodded in agreement. "Come on, Yuri."

"I—I already told Victor. I don't want to talk about this kind of topic…" Yuri stuttered awkwardly.

 _And why were they talking about this in the first place?_ Thought Yuri.

Yuri assumed that from all the experience he went through with these guys, they were all pretty physically or emotionally intimate with one another. It didn't even have to be a nice kind of intimate! They would connect even through rivalry and differences and arguments!

Yuri's seen more fanart and eroticism than he needed to see from Victor's fan websites. It was filled with things that only comes from the wild imaginations of fangirls and _guys_ , but he did understand where they were coming from.

And that's why he felt so surprised when the majority of them here, including Victor, were acting so natural when talking about women.

 _Were they straight this whole time?!_

"I'll tell you mine. If you tell me yours," Chris said. "Alright so, I had in total about five real relationships. All of them ended, not because it wasn't working out. But because we lost interest in one another romantically. But I have to say, I kind of wish I had at least one relationship that's still lasting."

"Five real relationships?" Victor asked in shock. "What about Romania? Taylor? And who was it again...oh! And Kate?"

Chris waved his hand at him. "Ahh...they were just friends. I was infatuated with them. But it never got to the point where I truly felt something...you know?"

Victor nodded, "That sums it up. Well, Yuri? What about you? Any high school sweethearts whom you never had the chance of confessing to?"

"Or maybe a childhood friend that you completely lost to a former bully…" Yurio accidentally lets out.

He was immediately struck on the head by Victor, who turned his attention back to Yuri after doing that. Yuri thought hard of a way to get out of this situation. Suddenly it caught him. The highlight from the gold ring he and Victor wore gleamed in his eye.

"Sorry, guys. But I'm already engaged, so as you can see, talking about other relationships are out of the question!" Yuri smiled to himself, hoping that this would cause everyone to just drop the topic and be done with it. But it didn't work.

"As your fiancé, I say that I do not mind if you talk about your other relationships in this time. There you go, now you may speak freely to your heart's content!" Victor grinned.

Yuri deflated back into his seat. He gave up. He's gonna have to say something or even make up something to get out of this. He was so tempted to say Yuko's name when he realized another solution out of this.

"Why are we even talking about my love life? I'm pretty sure the majority of you would find it very boring and dull. But I'm pretty sure that Victor's stories won't be!" Yuri smirked.

That did it. Everyone's interest stirred at the table. Even Chris leaned in towards Victor's direction, anticipating whatever he's about to say. Victor's smile stuck on his face. As if it was stitched on. He touched his chin with one finger, thinking deeply.

"Aha! I'll tell you guys my story if Yurio tells all of us what person he's got his eyes on right now!" Victor clapped.

Yurio's expression was priceless. He almost spat out his drink and his jaw hit the table. "What? Why?" He coughed.

"Because I said so, and I would like to hear a confession out of at least one of the two Yuri's at this table…" Victor made a pouty face.

Yurio swallowed his water and exhaled heavily. "Fine. It...was...um...one of the girls from middle school...I dunno...I was still young that time! It was nothing more than an elementary crush! There! Happy?"

"Mmmmm...that's too vague. And how do I know that you're not making that up?" Victor challenged.

Yurio's frustration hit its peak. "Are you serious? What is this, Victor? 20 questions?"

Victor smirked. "No, but it can be if you want it to be."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh! Me first!" Phitchit cried. "Were you ever in an intimate relationship before?"

Victor smiled slyly. "Yes."

Chris cleared his throat. "Was it with a girl? Did she do any sports herself?"

"Yes and yes."

Yuri saw that the conversation was now revolving around Victor, and felt comfortable again. He decided to join in on the fun. "What kind of sports did she do?"

"That's not a 'yes or no' question," Victor corrected, wagging his finger in front of Yuri's eyes in an extremely exaggerated manner.

"Fine then. Ummm...ok here goes nothing. Was she a skater?"

"Yes. Who else do you think I'd go out with?!" Victor said.

The whole table exploded in conversation and questions. Everyone now wanted to know who this person is now that they know that she is a skater. Which meant that at least one of them would've known her unless this girl never made it to the national or international levels.

"Ok so, was she hot?" JJ asked without shame.

"That'll depend on your standards. Next!" Victor called.

"No, wait! Did you think she looked attractive?" JJ rephrased his first question.

Victor nodded fiercely. "Of course I did! I'm not blind!"

"Did we ever see her before? Like on tv? Or in competitions?" Phitchit asked.

Victor paused for awhile before answering. "Uh...yes…"

"I'm gonna see how far this romance went to. Tell us, Victor. Did you ever sleep with her?" Chris asked.

Everybody sat on the edge of their seats as Victor answered the question in a rather tired-sounding voice.

" _Fuck..._ yes. Yes, I did. Don't judge."

Yuri nearly fell out of his seat. He always had the feeling that Victor was no virgin, but hearing that confession only made him feel more inexperienced than ever! Now Yuri was afraid. All those times when Victor tried to close in on him, was he thinking of _that?_

Yurio felt his face grow red due to being in a conversation where he feels extremely underaged! He quickly changed the topic. "Was she in novice?" Yurio asked curiously.

His tone changed as this game of twenty questions gradually drew out his interest.

"No," answered Victor.

"Junior? Senior?" Yurio asked again.

"No, for junior. Yes, for senior," Victor confirmed.

The whole table began exchanging whispers and private conversations. Yurio's mouth hung agape when he realized that this mystery girl was a senior. Phichit and Chris began looking on their phones and searching up women senior skaters over the last few years.

"If she was on that level, then I would've for sure seen her!" Phichit said to himself.

"I dunno anymore. I always notice the skaters that really stick out. I mean, if this skater caught Victor's eye, then she would've caught mine too. But I don't remember seeing anything phenomenal over the last two years or so," Chris sighed.

"Maybe it's because you don't really pay attention to women's figure skating. I watch it, but I don't watch it to the end," Otabek admitted.

Yuri joined in on the search for Victor's mystery girl. "Well, what if she wasn't competing during those last two years? She could've been refining skills or healing from an injury, right?"

Victor suddenly tensed and gulped down the remainder of his drink. He looked up at the bright crystal chandelier lights before smiling back at Yuri.

"Are we gonna continue this game or what? You still got twelve more questions to go!"

Yuri knew exactly what to ask. "Alright. So is she still skating right now?"

Victor's bright smile dimmed as his mouth opened, almost trying to say something. But no words came out. Instead, he turned his body towards the table and looked down so that no one could see his face.

Yuri sensed the change and instantly regretted his question.

"Victor! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

He was stopped abruptly by the sound of a soft cough. Even though he couldn't see Victor's face, he could see the tears that are falling and landing on the surface of the table, shocking everybody.

Victor's body was shaking slightly. This whole scene reminded Yuri of himself when he was crying over his first Grand Prix Finals experience of failure in the bathroom. Except he was crying over his loss. He had no idea what Victor was crying about.

Everybody began asking Victor if he was alright.

"Victor? Victor?" Chris asked, trying to get him to raise his head.

"We're sorry about asking the questions! We'll stop right here, promise!" Phichit exclaimed.

"Please, Victor. We won't do this anymore. Let's do something else. Just please…" Yurio stopped midway.

The soft sobs coming from the crying man gradually became louder and louder...and then the sound of muffled laughter was heard. Victor burst his head back up, laughing so hard that he had to wrap his arms around his stomach in order to contain himself.

He couldn't stop laughing. It was so great the tears were coming out of his eyes and he began to pound his fist on the table top. This caused everyone to go pokerfaced.

"Uhhh...what just happened?" Yurio asked cautiously.

"He's drunk. Should've known that from the very beginning! Idiot!" Chris smacked himself on the head.

"Ok...so, was the whole game of twenty questions just a lie? That girl never existed?" Phichit asked nervously.

Victor spoke in a mildly slurred speech, laughing while he did. "What girl? What are you guys talking about? We're all girls here! And you know what girls like to do best? Dance! Let's go!"

Victor pulled Yuri out of his seat and dragged him out of the private area and towards the main hall where the majority of the guests are. The rest of the skaters looked at each other in confusion, before shrugging their shoulders and running after them.

* * *

In the main hall, Victor dragged Yuri across the floor, spinning him in all directions, while leading him towards the buffet table. Victor grabbed several shot glasses and forcefully made Yuri drink them all.

"You're too sober, Yuri! Loosen up and show me that beautifully amazing side of yours again! Please? Come on! _Hic!_ " Victor begged in a drunken manner.

Yuri tried to push the glasses away as Victor held them towards his face. "Victor...please stop. This is getting embarrassing…"

Some of the guests who were around them began watching their little act and exchanging conversations. Yuri tried his best to mute them out, but his imagination gave way.

"Look at them, going at it again."

"Didn't that Japanese guy get drunk last year and began pole-dancing with that Italian guy?"

"Don't you mean the Swiss guy? Yeah, it was the Swiss skater who danced with the Japanese skater who came in last place! I still have photos of that night!"

"Look! Here comes the best part of this whole banquet. Girls, hold onto your panties!"

Chris grabbed Yuri by the arm and pulled him away from a drunk Victor, who lost his smile when Yuri disappeared. Chris put his arm around Yuri's shoulder and smirked.

"Hey, why don't we find another dance pole, Yuri? For old times' sake?" Chris suggested.

Yuri had steam coming out of his ears by now. This was getting too far. This was the whole reason why he didn't want to come down to the banquet in the first place!

"Oh great. Oh great. Oh great…" Yuri sweated.

Suddenly, he was pulled from Chris and back into Victor's arms. Chris shook his head as more of the other skaters showed up. Yurio gulped upon seeing Yuri being held tightly in Victor's arms, he was not about to go through this again.

"Hey, Pork cutlet bowl! Do something about this!" Yurio shouted.

Yuri looked at him incredulously. "Do you think I have the power to do anything at all right now?"

Victor tightened his hold and Yuri gasped. "Shh...Yuri. Don't speak right now. Save your strength for later. This is clearly between me and Chris…"

The Russian man looked at Chris, shooting daggers at him. But he wasn't fazed at all. Grinning, Chris accepted Victor's challenge.

"Fine. So be it. But don't say I warned you. I'm a pro at the erotic arts," Chris winked.

Victor walked up to him, smiling confidently. "Who said anything about erotic arts? This is a competition...of memorization! Of the competitive life of Katsuki Yuri!"

Yuri's world crashed around him. "Wait—what?!"

The last thing he needs to hear is the retelling of his past competition results, or in other words, his _failures_ of living up to the champion figure skater he dreamed of being. He needed this to end, right now.

"Vi—Victor! You're not feeling well, so how about we just go back to the hotel, and get some proper sleep?" Yuri begged.

"Shh! Yuri...I'm doing this for you. Don't worry. I won't lose. I'll show the entire world that I know Yuri Katsuki better than anyone else!" Victor cried triumphantly throwing his arms up in the air.

This was followed by an enormous round of applause and cheer from the surrounding guests, who were watching this entertaining and drunk showdown between two long-time competitive rivals.

Victor finished his final glass and places it down, getting ready to compete. Chris began doing some quick dynamic stretches on the spot. He pretended that he was so scared of losing this challenge, arousing more interest from the audience.

Yuri buried his face in his neck as he quietly turned around to make a break for the buffet table. And that was the beginning of the drunk craziness.

Throughout the night, Victor kept making new demands and challenges against every guest he caught staring at Yuri. He was seriously out of control. One of the challenges was to beat a certain guest in ballroom dancing.

Of all the people Victor could pick from, he picked Yurio. Poor Yurio was once again dragged into this unwanted craziness. The Russian Punk's face became more and more distorted as Victor dipped him down low and pulled him in close after a spin.

Finally, Victor decided to crush his opponent by lifting Yurio over his head in a difficult pair skating position. Yurio yelped—in a high squeak—as soon as his feet left the ground. This move was met with numerous cheers. Satisfied, Victor puts Yurio back down and prances away. Yurio stumbles over the buffet table, where Yuri cringes—though not in a bad way—over the way his coach is acting. Yurio looks at Yuri and scowls.

"How can you just stand here and do nothing? I didn't want to be a part of that!" He complained.

"Well, look at him. When he's like that, there's no stopping him. So it would futile if I tried," Yuri countered.

Yurio takes an appetizer from a nearby tray and stuffs the whole thing into his mouth. "Shouldn't have let him drink so much back at the tables. Anyways, about the game of twenty of questions...do you think Victor was lying?"

The memory came back to Yuri's mind. Was Victor really drunk and making stuff up when they were asking about his past relationship? Could it have been true? Maybe it was true and when he was drunk, it just all came out!

But maybe Victor was just referring to another girl he saw skate once and was just describing her in his drunken state. Yuri didn't know anymore. It was too real to be a fake right now. He wanted to know so badly who this person is and more importantly, what happened to her.

Because the moment the game began to go downhill, was when Yuri asked about the current state of said girl. After that, Victor began to cry and then laugh. Was he drunk? Or was he faking it so he wouldn't have to answer?

"I dunno if that game was true or false. How did we even get to that topic in the first place anyways?" Yuri wondered.

"You forgot already? We were talking about women and relationships and all attention was on you for awhile, but you were obviously uncomfortable with the topic. So you tried to push it onto Victor. Which lead to twenty questions. So there, this whole thing is your fault!" Yurio pointed out.

Yuri sweats. There's no arguing with that. Yurio was right to a point. "I know. It's my fault. I'm sorry, Yuri. About getting you dragged into another drunken banquet," Yuri apologized sincerely.

"I accept. But I still can't get that game of twenty questions out of my head...I've been training with Victor ever since he moved up to the seniors. If he was truly seeing someone during that time, then I would've seen her! But I didn't! I hate mystery!" Yurio growled in frustration.

"Victor wouldn't hide something like that. I dunno...I wouldn't think that he's that sort of person…" Yuri trailed off.

"Really, Yuri Katsuki? You think you know everything about Victor Nikiforov? Well, news flash. You don't. Just because you two are close and all, and are even engaged, doesn't mean that he's not keeping any secrets. And I bet that this is one!" Yurio exclaimed with confidence.

Yuri didn't say anything. He shouldn't worry so much about the fact that he doesn't know everything about Victor, even though they've been through a lot for the past several months.

He should worry about winning gold at the next World Championships coming up in a few months. But it's like what Yurio said. He just couldn't get that game of twenty questions out of his head.

Victor's hiding something from him. But it's perfectly normal. They can't reveal everything about their lives to each other.

Looking at Victor, who was doing an extremely funky combination of breakdancing, acro, and belly-dancing at the same time on the floor. Yuri found himself at ease again. He was not longer embarrassed about tonight anymore.

"Pretty soon. Victor and I would be competing together again. That should be interesting. I hope…" Yuri thought as he sliced another piece of cake from the tray.

* * *

 **Like it? Dislike it? Well, don't be shy! Comment in the reviews! I'll see you guys again next time! :D Thanks for reading.**


	2. What's wrong with taking some risks?

**Hi, everyone! I'm back! And I brought another chapter with me! *Gasp! (Whatever :D)**

 **Thanks for following and favoriting on my first chapter. And a warm thank-you to the guest who reviewed (you made my day and gave me encouragement to keep writing!)**

 **I've been thinking about the spelling of my character's names. Is it Yuri Katsuki or Yuuri Katsuki? Is it Victor or Viktor? (Does it honestly really matter at all?)**

 **You guys can tell me whether or not should I change the spelling of their names. 'Cause I'm getting really conflicted...**

 **But that's not important. What's important is that you guys enjoy and review this chapter!**

 ***The more reviews the more chances of me continuing this story!**

* * *

 **Ch 2: What's wrong with taking some risks?**

The highest point of the program comes up and Yuri prepares himself for the final jump.

The quadruple flip.

He wanted to work on his consistency of this jump since he landed it only a few times in competition. His free skate at the Grand Prix Final, was just him having a good day. He needs to be able to land this 24/7.

Especially with Victor currently in Russia, working on his short and long programs for the upcoming 2016 Russian Championships.

So Yuri was training himself this whole time and would continue to do so until the Nationals were over. He wanted to surprise Victor when he came back from Russia.

"This way, he won't have to work so hard with me and can focus on his own training as well. I want to motivate him, not hinder him," Yuri whispered to himself.

Bending his knees and reaching his right toe pick back, Yuri plants it into the ice, leaping into the air. _One...two...three...four…_ The moment the toe pick of his right skate touched the ice, Yuri unwraps his left leg and extends it back into a landing position.

Or at least he tried to...

His landing was a bit unstable, as he bent forward too much, causing him to rotate once more on the ice before he could regain control of his edge again.

"Damnit!" Yuri thought, but he had no time to go back and fix it.

The music kept on playing and he had to go on with the program. The final step sequence was a simple one. Yuri pushed the loop jump out of his head as he tried to stay focused on the music. The step sequences are all about musicality and personality.

Spins and field moves are Yuri's strengths. He's well known in competition for them. So he works hard to make them as perfect as they can be, to make up for any falls or poorly executed jumps during a competition.

Finishing his combination spin, he holds his finishing pose just as the music stops.

 _Perfect!_ Yuri thought. He finished right on time this round.

 _Clap, clap, clap!_

Yuri looked up, surprised to see Yuko standing by the boards, applauding him. He smiles humbly and skates over to her. Yuko threw her hands up in the air and cheered.

"Woohoo! That was amazing, Yuri! Victor's gonna be really happy when he sees it!" Yuko gave him two thumbs up.

Yuri still couldn't get the failed flip out of his mind.

"Yeah, well. It's still a work in progress. Anyways, I still got a lot to work on. I want to be able to land all my elements, whether it's my good day or bad day."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't worry so much about your technical score. I like your style of skating because you're so emotional when it comes to it," Yuko admitted.

Yuri nodded as he opened his water bottle. "I know. But if I put improved on the technical scores, then I'd be able to place more often than not. Finishes that are off the podium, are longer good for me."

Yuko crossed her arms, smiling smugly.

"Whoa, look at you. Becoming all out there and tough for your idol/coach/fiancé, when he's suddenly making a comeback to competing again?"

Yuri chokes on his water. "Well, it's just that— _cough_ —the last time we've competed— _cough_ —I made a complete— _cough_ —fool of myself— _cough._ "

"That, I can understand. I still can't believe the things you did when you were drunk! I didn't think you had it in you! Hahaha!"

Yuko doubled over with laughter from the photos and videos of the night where Yuri had a little too much to drink that Minako shared with her.

Yuri's face began to flush and he groaned over how embarrassing that experience was. Though it still couldn't compare to the last banquet he was at for the Grand Prix Finals.

This time, Victor was the one who was making a drunk fool of himself.

Or was he…

Even after a month since the banquet, Yuri still couldn't let go of the game of twenty questions. It was a nagging thought on the side of his mind, he spent nights researching for any rumors or online proof of a past relationship Victor may have had.

Wait a minute...Yuko used to skate herself. And better yet, she's a female! She's bound to have noticed some women skaters from tv!

"Hey, Yuko?" Yuri asked.

Yuko's laughter gradually died down, and she regained some control.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Have you, um, ever watched ladies figure skating—more specifically from Russia?"

Yuko blinked. "Maybe...I think I have. But why? Are you trying to become straight?"

"NO! Sorry—no—I just want to know a little more about women's figure skating. You know? So do you know any of the competitors from there? Or maybe the results from the past few years?" Yuri asked curiously.

"Well. I do know that each year, the Russian Skating Union usually selects about the same group of skaters from the Nationals to go into the world competitions. The results themselves are usually different from the previous year, but the selected team of skaters are always about the same. It's strange really, but I could send you a list of the competitors and the results of Russia's Nationals over the last few years," Yuko offered.

Yuri sighed in relief. "Thanks, that'll be all that I need."

"I'll email you the list later. Anyways, you should hurry and finish up. We're closing pretty soon," Yuko reminded.

"Why? You usually close about an hour later," Yuri wondered as he checked the time on his phone.

"Yeah, but tonight's the start of the Russian Championships! Don't you want to see Victor's performance? And Yuri Plisetsky's?" Yuko questioned.

Yuri smacked his forehead. He had completely forgotten about this. Well, screw practicing some more, he's gonna go home.

Right now.

"Let's hurry back! I can't miss it!" Yuri cried as he frantically untied his skates and stuffed all of his gear into his bag.

* * *

 _In the Yekaterinburg Ice Arena._

The warmup period was almost over and Victor avoided doing any big jumps during the whole session. He wanted to take things slow and steady, so there's no need to be worried.

To be honest, he didn't need to worry much at all! The Russian Skating Union merely glances at the results of each years' National Championships.

What they mainly focus on is the skater's history and results from previous competitions, especially international competitions. Also, their coaches, the length of their training period, where they trained and more.

And considering his constant world records and his legacy of being a five-time world champion, and most importantly, his inhuman consistency, he's bound to be selected for this year's National team.

He looked around, smiling and admiring the fresh pool of new skaters around him. All warming up with single jumps and backspins. Yuri Plisetsky would be skating in the group after this.

Victor was about to finish his warmup with one more lap of crossovers when he saw Yakov wave him over from the boards. Skating over, Victor wondered what Yakov was going to lecture to him about this time.

"Victor, I know that I said this before but I'm going to say it again. If you completely bomb this Nationals, I won't be able to salvage your career. You hear me? So once you're out there on the ice, you're going to have to hold your own," Yakov stated in a fierce tone.

"Isn't that what I always do every time? You need to stop worrying Yakov, I swear, given your age, I'm afraid that it may be detrimental to your health…"

"Don't talk back to me like that! You know why I'm worried! Your decision to both compete while coaching that skater, Katsuki...it's insane! You're going to ruin yourself! I'm not about to let you go through it all again—"

Victor's cheerful persona suddenly fell. His face grew serious and he held Yakov close in a loose hug.

"I don't need you to remind me. I promise that it won't happen again. And if it does, I'll do the smart thing, and leave."

Yakov was not completely persuaded.

"Vitya—"

"Have faith in me," Victor whispered before skating away and using whatever time he has left of the warmup session.

* * *

 _One week after the Russian Championships, in Ice Castle Hasetsu._

Finishing his last combination spin, Yuri brought both of his arms out delicately in his finishing pose. Breathing heavily from his newly-revised long program to _Yuri on Ice_.

"Amazing, Yuri! That was a clean free skate! Even better than the one at the Grand Prix Final! What have you been doing while I was gone?" Victor demanded ecstatically as he skated over to embrace his student.

Yuri nearly lost his balance from the embrace but managed to keep it together.

"Whoa, whoa! Well, I thought that you'd want me to work hard since you won't be around very often. And not to mention your insane comeback at the Nationals...it was just...unbelievable! I mean—everyone expected you to flop after missing a whole season of competing!" Yuri cried in disbelief.

He was still in awe when Victor managed to deliver two clean programs and completely destroy the rest of the competition one week ago on live television. The combined total score for Victor, in the end, was about a whopping 297.43!

Yurio was the only skater whose score can compare to the champion of the Russian Nationals. A combined total of 289.27. Nearly all of the other skaters were affected by the veteran's score and didn't perform to their best ability.

Even though it wasn't Victor's personal best, it was higher than any score Yuri has ever received throughout his whole career.

Other than the one lucky night on the Grand Prix Final. Where he and Yurio both managed to get into the 300s mark with their combined total score.

Yuri managed to get out of Victor's tight embrace and ruffle his hair back in place. When he looked up again, he could see that Victor was no longer smiling, but rather looking at him in an extremely critical manner.

Yuri's spine shivered when he felt those deep turquoise eyes examine him. Victor leaned his head back and ran both hands through his hair, before examining Yuri once more.

"Yeah, Yuri. I was amazed by most of your program. But I found one small thing that made me slightly disappointed," Victor admitted.

Those words absolutely crushed poor Yuri's spirit. He was afraid that Victor would say that. Well, he's also sort of glad that it was finally released.

"Ok...where was it? That small part?" Yuri asked in a shaky voice.

"Mmmm...well I was kind of thinking of...something new to add to your free skate! It's not a big difference, you're still skating the same free skate, I just want to change something at the very end!" Victor said enthusiastically.

Yuri was taken back. Something new? Looks like he's gonna start rambling on about landing a QUADruple axel again. Yuri prayed that that was not going to be the topic.

"Aha! Let's take out that quadruple flip before the final spin. After the spin, I'd like you to add a really quick footwork sequence that'll lead into the final jump! Imagine how climatic that'll be! Well, what about that? Think you can handle it?" Victor asked grinning eagerly.

"Finish my free skate with a jump? But...what if I fall on it?" Yuri asked. And instantly wished he didn't.

Victor struck the ice with the heel of his blade, nearly shocking Yuri off his balance.

"I'm disappointed, Yuri. I thought you'd start taking risks and become more open. Especially since I'm returning to competing again for the remainder of this season. I guess I was wrong," Victor sighed.

"No—no! I'm just...still a little unconfident, I guess. But you're wrong, Victor! I do want to be more open, take more risks! I've been working on that since you were gone! But...since you want something more...tell me, what kind of jump should I include for the grand finale?" Yuri asked, gaining some of his confidence back.

Victor smiled again.

"That's up to you, Yuri. Don't tell me now. Or else you'll be giving me an edge in competing against you. You prepare the program yourself. And show only the first half of it to me. I'll see this revised free skate at the Worlds in Boston!"

Yuri nodded with determination. He knew exactly what to put at the end. The jump he struggled with most at the beginning of his previous season, but can now land consistently.

The quadruple salchow.

* * *

 _Wednesday. March 30, 2016. Boston, Massachusetts, USA. TD Garden._

Yuri Katsuki ran up and down the hallway outside of the practice rooms in the arena to warm up. Today was the start of the men's short program, and that means he would finally show his entirely new program choreographed by himself to the whole world.

He should be in a better state of mind than last year's Grand Prix Series, but honestly. He felt just as bad—if not—worse than he did last year!

"Start the program with the flying camel combination. Footwork segment into first double axel. Blah, blah, blah...what am I forgetting? What comes after the last mohawk turn? Ah!"

"Oof! Watch it, Piggy!" Yurio cried as he rubbed his head.

"Yuri Plisetsky!" The stern voice of Lilia Baranoskaya, the Russian Prima ballerina, bellowed.

"What have I told you about watching your language? Apologize at once!"

The Russian teen scowled but quickly let up again when he saw Yuri's extended hand, offering to help him up. Accepting the hand, Yurio sighed and apologized.

"Sorry."

"No, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention," Yuri admitted.

"I know. I saw that. You get anxious way too easily. No wonder your consistency always fails you," Yurio pointed out.

Crushed, Yuri barely managed an audible, "Thanks, I already know."

"But it's also an asset. Your anxiety? Under the right circumstances, it pushes you to your greatest. I'm hoping that the circumstances are right for you today, otherwise, I WILL destroy you…"

Yurio gave Yuri a quick nod and tiny smirk before walking off.

* * *

 _First group. Men's short program._

Yuri got off the ice as the warmup ended. Victor gave him his skate guards. He would be skating in the last group, so he could dress as a coach during this time.

"Hey, Yuri. I'm looking forward to seeing this program of yours. Try and keep me watching for the whole two minutes, because my eyes will wonder if it's not interesting enough," Victor whispered.

Yuri nodded, gulping slightly. To relieve himself, he looked over at the first skater. Seung Gil Lee, of Korea. He and his coach exchanged some last minute words of encouragement before he took the ice, to the applause and cheers of the audience.

The song, _Almavivo_ , came on and his short program began. His opening jump, the quadruple loop was a success. He goes into his transitional step sequence from there.

Yuri turned to Victor.

"I'll be at the washroom. Don't worry about me. I'm ok."

Victor scanned his face for any signs of lying. But he saw none, and let him go. Yuri ran to the washroom, looking at his phone, which displayed a text message from Yurio who wanted him there immediately.

* * *

Opening the door, Yuri saw Yurio standing at a corner that had a bench for sitting and gestured for him to come over.

"Did you find out anything about the mystery girl from the game of twenty questions?" Yurio asked.

"Not really. But Yuko did send me a list of past competitors from Russia's Nationals. I looked at all of them, but I can't really tell which one is a worthy candidate. They're all really good!" Yuri admitted.

Yurio grabbed Yuri's phone and looked over the list.

"Yeah, I did my research too. I watched them all perform. At Nationals, Worlds, European Championships, and the Grand Prix Series. I even talked to a few who were my rink mates. Like Mila Babicheva? Boy, she thought I was out of my mind when I hinted at any relationship between her and Victor."

Yurio shuddered at that memory.

"What about Sonia Ivanov? She placed first at two of the Worlds and bronze at the Grand Prix Finals," Yuri suggested.

"Right. But Annie Vasin never finished off the podium once at any competition," Yurio stated.

"Let's rewatch some of their programs again. Maybe we'll get a better idea after that," Yuri suggested.

 _Several minutes later…_

"I really think it's this girl," Yurio pointed at Laurel Kopeykin, who's just finished a clean free skate on Yuri's phone.

"She's ok, but isn't she like five years older than Victor?" Yuri asked awkwardly.

"What!? Ok—ew—never mind—I take it back," Yurio huddled into the wall behind the bench.

"I think it's either that girl with the dark red dress, the Asian girl or the girl with the blonde bun. Their styles are really beautiful and their consistency is amazing," Yuri said.

"Wait—who?" Yurio asked, sitting back up.

"I said—"

"YURI KATSUKI!" The door of the washroom banged open with a large kick, almost being knocked off its hinges.

The silhouette of a stressed and dismayed Victor appeared at the frame of the entrance.

Yuri and Yurio quickly stuffed their phones back into their pockets and kept a calm face.

"What were you two doing in here? Ohhhh! Were you two trying to get along and be best friends now? Why didn't you invite me? I would've loved to join in on what you were discussing!" Victor made a sad pouty face.

Yuri opened his mouth but was cut off by Victor.

"Back to topic. YURI, YOU'RE ON THE ICE AFTER MICHELE CRISPINO, WHO'S PERFORMING RIGHT NOW! GET BACK OUT THERE!"

* * *

 _In the Ice Arena._

Michele Crispino finishes his last jumping passage, the triple lutz/triple loop, but was a bit shaky on the landing. He quickly went past it and entered his final choreographic sequence before ending his program with a finishing pose.

And done!

The audience applauded and threw down gifts and flowers for the Italian skater as he goes over to his coach and sits down in the kiss-and-cry as his score was being announced.

The short program score for Michele Crispino was 89.71. It was a good score, especially due to the fact he stepped out of the last jump of his program.

Yuri felt his heart beating against his chest as he removed his jacket and handed it Victor, who gave him a supportive pat on the back and a wink for good luck.

Or was it for the costume?

Stepping onto the ice, Yuri circled around the ice to get a quick feel for it. He skated towards the boards where he squeezed Victor's hands and managed a weak smile.

"I'll do my best to keep you glued to my performance," Yuri promised.

Victor nodded, "Don't forget that I'll be competing against you for the gold. And you did promise me five gold medals."

His heart racing, Yuri left the boards and skated towards the center of the rink where he would begin his program, meeting the applause of the people in the stands.

He stopped and placed his skates in a slightly spread apart position with both holds at his sides and his head down. Quietly breathing as his music came on and he began his program.

 _On Love: Eros,_ played over the speakers.

 _This better score higher than the Grand Prix Final,_ thought Yuri as he performed his opening step sequence and finished his two back-to-back spins.

He held his breath as he approached his triple axel from a spread eagle. Landed cleanly!

Flowing with confidence, Yuri skated his transitional footwork into his second jump. The quadruple salchow. Again, it was amazingly landed!

From there, he built up some momentum during his transitional steps that led into the last jump element, the quadruple toe/triple toe.

And he had to really hold onto the landing of the triple toe! He landed on his blade instead of his toepick, nearly falling in the process.

Getting a bit mad at himself, Yuri put all of his emotions into the final combination spin, which leads into the last choreographic sequence before ending his program.

Cheers, applause, and stuffed animals rained down from the audience. Picking up a box of coupons of free appetizers for his favourite restaurant back home, Yuri skates over to the boards where Victor embraced him in disbelief.

"I couldn't take my eyes off you. You had me impressed, Yuri. Let's see if the judges think so too," Victor said in a proud tone as he sat with Yuri on the kiss-and-cry.

The scores for Yuri Katsuki were displayed large and clear a moment later.

A combined score of 105.95!

Victor pulled Yuri in close once again and rubbed his head affectionately. Before suddenly snatching away his box of coupons.

"Not yet, Yuri. I can't let you gain weight again before you become five-time world champion!"

* * *

 _Later that day._

Jean-Jacques Leroy skates off the ice after a phenomenal short program. He had scored a 103.54 in total.

Yurio scowled as the Canadian skater walked past and held out his fist to the Russian teen, hoping for a fist bump, which he reluctantly agreed to. It was his turn now. And currently, Yuri Katsuki is in first place, followed by Christophe Giacometti and Georgi Popovich.

Looking behind him, Yurio could see Victor from the stands, waving to him and giving several thumbs up. Victor was going right after the skater after Yurio, who was a new French skater, named Seville Bauchande.

Not about to let them beat me! Yurio thought as he skated onto the ice, not giving any attention to Yakov who sighed at the teen's rebellious attitude.

Yurio put himself into position as his music, _On Love: Agape_ came on.

He goes into his first jump, the triple axel. Beautifully landed! His position for the flying sit spin was also lovely to watch.

Yuri watched in awe as Yurio goes into a beautiful quadruple salchow/triple toe loop combination. And held his breath when the Russian teen wobbled severely on the landing of his quadruple toe loop.

Other than the unstable toe loop, Yurio delivered an amazing first program of the 2016 year. After the program, Yakov started berating Yurio on his quadruple toe loop but stopped upon seeing his score. A 105.52, ranking him in second place, right behind Yuri!

Yurio walked over to join Victor, Yuri, Phichit, and Minako, who flew all the way over to watch Yuri perform again. The French skater, Seville goes onto the ice.

This was Seville's senior debut and he wanted to make a good first impression.

Taking to the ice, this fifteen-year-old tried his best to hide his nervousness behind a cover of fierceness. Perhaps this similarity is what sparked Yurio's interest in this program.

 _Fragile Dream_ by Joe Hisaishi played over the speakers. Seville skated like he was almost afraid of falling. It was a beautiful program. No falls or stumbles occurred during the entire two minutes, just the sound of blades scraping against ice.

His combined score was 98.49, which was rather impressive for his first time skating in the senior division.

By the time Yurio looked up, Victor was gone. He was already down on the boards with Yakov, who looked anxious yet excited at the same time.

Not Victor, though, he looked like he was eager to get on the ice. But there was a slight hint of fear hidden behind his constant happy-go-lucky expression.

Yuri runs up to the front of the stands and waves at Victor, who happily waves back before Yakov nods for him to get onto the ice. Taking off his warmup jacket, he reveals a simple black and red top with loose sleeves.

Though it's not flashy in general, it looked like it was shining on Victor.

Yurio whacks Yuri on the back of the head when he caught him staring for too long. Minako began waving a giant Russian flag up and down as soon as Victor stopped into his starting position.

The song was _Cubana_.

Because this is the first performance since his comeback, Victor decided to keep things simple for the short program. He goes into his first jump, triple axel.

Yuri and Yurio leaned forward to see the jump being landed...cleanly. It was met with thunderous applause and the two Yuris shrunk back into their seats, reality hitting them extra hard.

Victor was more than just a giver of advice, he was their competition. And unfortunately for them, 'age' did not seem to exist in Victor's dictionary.

The veteran skater goes from a well-centered flying spin into his next jump, quadruple lutz. Again it was a clean jump. Yurio began to feel something that he didn't feel until Victor started performing.

And that was envy.

He envied how easy Victor made it look. Even though he knew that it was not easy, Victor admitted it himself to Yurio years ago. But he has such control over his nerves and body whenever under pressure that it rarely affected his performance.

Yuri, on the other hand, looked on with awe. It was like his childhood all over again. With Victor being an absolute god out on the ice and him watching with his eyes wide from the sidelines.

The final jump combination, quadruple toe/triple toe, came up. Victor goes into it from a step sequence and prepares for the first jump.

Cleanly landed. He goes into the second jump with his both arms over his head for added difficulty.

Landed again.

The audience got to their feet as Victor goes into his final choreographic step sequence into the combination spin. It was as if he was never gone for a season!

Gifts, flowers, boxes of food, and more rained down. The ice was literally littered with items as Victor skated off towards a—smiling Yakov!?

They sat down together as the score was being announced. A total of 110.68 was earned for Victor's short program. Unbelievable. Yuri Katsuki always thought about it, but now he knows it. His idol/coach/fiancé was a demigod.

A figure skating demigod.

* * *

 _Thursday. March 31, 2016_

Yuri could not believe he was in this place. Especially since the men's free skate is beginning tomorrow. A shop. And not just any shop. But a Japanese shop. That sells items. About Japanese tv shows and books. An anime shop.

"Oi! Yuri, look at this! It's so cute!" Victor cried as he shoved a keychain with a stuffed egg-like plushy on one end into Yuri's face.

"Tell me again, why did you drag me here?" Yuri asked as several customers stared at the two men fawning over a keychain.

And the majority of them were teenaged girls.

"Correction, Yuri. I dragged _us_ here. Because of the free skate tomorrow, I thought of getting a good luck charm for us this time, you got the rings last time. I wanna return the favor," Victor explained as he went to the rows of giant throw pillows.

Yuri stumbled over, desperately trying to ignore the whispers and giggles of the schoolgirls watching the only two males in this whole store, other than the employees.

"Ok, I get it. But an anime shop? Just because I'm Japanese doesn't mean I like all things...um…" Yuri fumbled for appropriate words.

"Japanese-see?" Victor asked.

"Not the word I was looking for, but yeah. And I didn't even know you watched these stuff," Yuri said.

Victor took out two small throw pillows. They had prints of _Attack on Titan_ on them.

Victor grinned as he threw Yuri the pillow with the chibi Colossal Titan.

"Here you go! Your good luck charm! With your titan's power, you can knock down the walls of any skater you come across tomorrow! Oh! and did you know that season 2 is coming out April 2017? It's about time!" Victor laughed.

"You watch this show? Wait—you watch anime? Actually!?" Yuri asked curiously.

Victor showed some hints of embarrassment as he hugged his throw pillow and turned slightly red.

"Well, ummm. Not _excessively_ …" Victor trailed off.

Yuri laughed nervously upon hearing those dreaded words. The words of an otaku. At least they weren't the words of a weeaboo. Victor brightened up again seconds later. He grabbed Yuri's hand and went over to the cash register.

"Doesn't matter what I watch or don't watch. What matters is that I like what you like, and you're gonna be an absolute gem tomorrow night at the free skate!" Victor pumped one hand in the air.

* * *

 _Hotel room._

Yurio was waiting for Otabek to answer his texts about going with him for lunch later that day. He checked Instagram while he waited and stopped when saw the recent photo posted by Victor.

"They're in _anime_ shop!? Matching _anime pillows_!? What the fu—"

"Yuri! Are you doing your stretches or going on your phone?" Yakov asked as he exited from the study room.

"Does it really matter? Look at how Victor is fooling around the day right before the free skate!" Yuri showed the photo to Yakov.

"Let him be. I don't know how to work with him anymore, but at least he's back to competing again. Now, just have to talk some sense into his coaching career with Katsuki…" Yakov stopped abruptly.

Yurio was confused.

"What do you mean? I get that Victor's choice of coaching and competing isn't a very wise one, but I don't think he's a bad coach. Is he?"

Yakov rubbed his eyes and poured himself some coffee.

"He's rash and he always does things out of order. Katsuki seems more like a conserved person, and Victor is breaking that shell. I don't how things'll end up looking like. But I fear the worst."

Yurio nodded.

"I can kind of see it. Yuri did include a quadruple salchow in the beginning of his short program and I heard that he's going to end his free skate with a jump too! That's risky, considering his inconsistency and nerves. I dunno what Victor was thinking!"

Yakov slammed his coffee cup down on the table.

Hard.

The sudden impact made Yurio jump a little. He could feel the tension surrounding the old Russian man.

"Victor is being irrational. I thought one bad experience would teach him, but apparently, he's so infatuated by Katsuki, that he's completely forgotten what happened the last time he pushed things too far!"

With that, Yakov disappeared into his bedroom.

"You can do whatever you want after you finish your stretching routine, Yuratchka. Just—don't disturb me...please," Yakov said right before the door slammed shut.

Yurio blinked twice before moving from his frozen position in the middle of the room.

"Ok…?" He grabbed his phone and saw that Otabek responded to his texts and was waiting for him in the lobby.

Forget about stretching, he wants to go out to lunch with a friend! Grabbing his jacket and wallet, Yurio pondered over Yakov's sudden fit.

"What was that about?"

* * *

 **Next chapter will start introducing some more drama between our characters. I'm keeping things on the down-low for these first few chapters to build up for the later chapters. I like taking my time. If you have any suggestions, just REVIEW!**

 **Thanks for reading! :D**


	3. Author's Note: I've made a HUGE mistake!

**Dear readers,**

 **I'm sorry to say that I've made a TERRIBLE mistake in the timeline of my story. Turns out the Yuri! On Ice series took place during the year of 2015 since its Grand Prix Final took place in Barcelona, Spain. So I had to quickly correct all of the dates and locations of the competitions for my entirety of chapter two!**

 **Goddamnit...I feel so stupid sometimes for not researching a little more into the series. I knew that it was based on the real-life schedule of events in the figure skating season, but I was too stupid to dig a little deeper.**

 **Correct me if I'm wrong. But in the beginning of episode 1, the Grand Prix Final where Yuri Katsuki landed in dead last, took place in Barcelona, Spain right? If that's true, then it would've been around December 2014. And Yuri fell again at the Japanese Figure Skating Championships around the end of December, which ruined his chances of being picked for the Worlds and Four Continents during the remainder of the 2014 season (which is during Jan-Mar 2015).**

 **So, Yuri went back home around March 2015 and met Victor. They worked towards qualifying for the 2015 Grand Prix Series and Finals. I did my research and the 2015 Grand Prix Finals in real-life took place in Barcelona, just like in the final episodes of Yuri! On Ice.**

 **I made sure that the year was most likely 2015 by looking at the location of the 2016 Grand Prix Finals, which took place in Marseille, France. (So it there's no way the series took place during the 2016 season...right?)**

 **After making all of those checks and doing more research, I've changed the dates and location of the world championships in chapter two of my fanfic. If you guys see any potential errors in the future, please do inform me!**

 **So I wouldn't have to go through another session of panicking, researching, and re-editing!**

 **-Blobby Leaves**


	4. The Skater with No Fear

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of YOI, just this story and most of the settings are real world locations and based on real facts.**

 **Hey, it's almost back to school from the holidays for me! :(**

 **Before I return to the hell's nest of work, projects, and end of January exams, I shall present you guys with this chapter.**

 **Which will probably mark the start of a very long hiatus for this story...hopefully not, though! (But no promises)**

 **I really want to continue this story, but I will find it difficult to do so without motivation.**

 **So remember, FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW if you want this story to stay alive!**

 **Please enjoy.**

* * *

 **Ch 3: The skater with no fear**

 _Friday. April 1, 2016. TD Garden._

The day of the free skate arrived. And the skaters all arrived early for extra off-ice practice, nearly all of them were nervous than ever after seeing the results of the short program.

Yuri was jumping up and down on one foot while listening to his free skate music on his phone. It was the only way for him to calm down. He and Yurio had never felt so crushed before.

After the short program, Victor was placed first, followed by Gordon Kang of the USA, and Brian Szmitko of Austria.

He and Yurio placed fourth and fifth respectively. Gordon and Brian were the last two skaters following Victor's performance and were also known as skating veterans.

Gordon recently healed from an injury—which explained his absence in the Grand Prix Series—but his short program showed that his skills never wavered during his recovery period.

Yuri didn't see it before, but he saw it now. He was in the big leagues. And Victor already owned this stage.

Yuri realized that there's a very little chance of winning gold at this Worlds, but if he tried hard enough in the free skate, he could make it onto the podium at least.

* * *

 _Group one, men's free skate._

Otabek Altin was the last skater in group one. Breathing deeply as he took the ice, he waited for his music to come on: Beethoven's _Symphony no. 9_.

He looked for Yurio among the sea of people at the stands. Finally, he spotted the blonde head of the Russian teen, holding up the flag of Kazakhstan. It was so unlike Yurio…

Yurio jumped up in time as Otabek performed his first jumping pass. Victor smiles at Yurio's being supportive of another competitor. Almost surprised even…

Yuri Katsuki looked at the time from his watch. They had plenty of time between now and their turn. He and Yurio would be skating in the last group of the night, with Victor. Who would've imagined that?

He just hoped that his free skate this time won't be as horrible as it was at the 2014 Grand Prix Finals. Otabek's free skate was reaching its end as Yuri tapped Yurio lightly on the shoulder.

"Eh?! What are you doing, Pork—"

"You wanna continue from where we left off last time?" Yuri whispered, knowing that Yurio would understand what he meant.

Just as expected, Yurio nodded in agreement as Otabek finishes a clean free skate. They all applaud and Yurio throws down a present for him. A giant motorcycle plushie.

Then he and Yuri picked up their bags and walked towards the steps. Trying to keep attention low to themselves. But unfortunately, Victor saw them trying to leave while engaged in conversation with Celestino.

"Huh? Hey! Where are the two of you going again this time?"

The two Yuris stopped dead in their tracks. They hoped that it wouldn't come down to this. They can not let Victor come with them.

"Oh...uh...washroom break?" Yuri tried.

"Mmmhmm, right…" Victor rolled his eyes. "Why can't I come along? Am I a bother?"

"NO!" Both Yuris cried at the same time.

"No…" Yurio comes up with a last minute excuse.

"Fine, you win, Victor. I give up. The truth is, Piggy is helping me on some of my schoolwork since neither you nor Yakov aced at quadratics back in high school…"

Victor blinked, dumbfounded. "Quad-what-ics?"

Yurio let out an annoyed growl as he pulled Yuri's sleeve while Victor began googling what 'quadratics' are.

"C'mon Piggy, let's go while we have the chance!"

With that, the two skaters made a break down the steps and across the rinkside towards the hall at the back of the arena. Victor finally found the definition and turned around.

"I got it! It's that graph with a curve like a bridge! You solve it by factoring! Right? Where'd you guys go?"

* * *

 _In the men's washroom._

"Geez! I thought he wouldn't let up!" Yurio cried as he threw down his warmup jacket and sat down on the same bench as they did on the day of the short program.

"Well, at least we got rid of him. And...are really struggling with quadratics?" Yuri asked as he took his seat.

Yurio's eyes darted around as his he bit his lip. "Uhh...it's not _that_ bad, I just got to work a little harder."

"If you're really struggling, I'd be more than happy to help—"

"I said I just got to work a little harder!" Yurio snapped but quickly apologized.

He took out his tablet and opened the web browser app. It was showing the results of the 2013 Russian Championships for the ladies' singles event. Yuri felt chills run through his body. He rubbed his arms, shivering.

"Is it just me, or am I more scared of this free skate than the one at the Grand Prix Final? This is the Worlds after all..."

"Stop thinking about it so much! You'll only make it worse for yourself! You dragged us here to focus on _this,_ not _the free skate._ Have you been doing any research at all?" Yurio demanded.

Yuri shook his head. "Not really...Victor wouldn't leave me alone since the short program. What have you got?"

"The results of the 2013 Russian Championships. Gold medalist is Annie Vasin. The silver and bronze medalists are Olivia Nguyen and Adelie Shenko. Annie still seems like the most likely contender. She trains at my rink so maybe there was something…"

Yuri suddenly pointed at the silver medalist's name.

"Hey, that's one of the girls I mentioned last time before Victor interrupted us! The Asian girl? Her way of presenting herself is really aesthetically pleasing."

"Hmm? I guess, but I don't think she ever trained in the St. Petersburg rink before. Adelie did...but then again, she has a boyfriend and the relationship is still going on currently."

The doors of the washroom opened and Phichit entered, surprised upon seeing the two skaters sitting on the bench. He was dressed in his warm-up outfit.

"Hey, guys! Watcha doing?" Phichit asked.

"Solving the mystery of the game of twenty questions," Yurio said very matter-of-factly.

"Oh! From the Barcelona Grand Prix Final banquet? You guys still haven't let that go yet? Oh, never mind, this seems interesting, let me see!" Phichit pranced over.

 _Several minutes later…_

"I think that it's Annie Vasin. I dunno—I mean Yurio did say that she practices at the same rink as Victor, right?" Phichit asked.

Yurio nodded. "I know right? But Piggy here thinks it's someone else...who!?"

"Well...but, yeah! I think Phichit's only saying it's Annie because he likes Sonia Ivanov, and doesn't want to consider her as a possibility! He blushes whenever he sees her photos!" Yuri pointed out in his defense.

Phichit jumped up from the bench as if someone lit a fire under his seat. "That's not true! You're just seeing things! And—oh my god!" Phichit looked at the time on his phone.

"I gotta go now. It's almost my turn to skate. Wish me luck!" Phichit waved away.

"Good luck!" Yuri cried.

As soon as Phichit left, Yuri turned back to Yurio. "Do you wanna leave too?"

"Let's finish watching the 2010 European Championships. And then we'll leave. But hey, Yuri. Looks like Annie is our best contender so far…" Yurio said smugly.

* * *

 _Out in the ice arena._

Victor sighed as he looked at his watch, waiting for Yuri and Yurio to return from the 'math help session' in the washroom.

He was pretty sure that they weren't working on quadratics, but he's also sure that they didn't want his presence there. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Chris walking up to him.

"Hey, Chris? Do you think that I'm becoming uncool?" Victor asked.

"What? Why are you saying that?" Chris asked, surprised.

"It's just that I think Yuri and Yurio are avoiding me because...maybe it's a thing between young people. I dunno! Am I a third wheel now?" Victor threw his hands up.

Chris laughed. "Calm down, Vic. You're just overreacting because of your engagement to Yuri. Love can be...blinding most of the time."

"Love can be what?" Yuri asked suddenly.

Chris and Victor turned around to see Yuri and Yurio come up from the steps. Victor smiled in relief to see the two skaters return.

Just then, Phichit's free skate began. Skating to _Terra Incognita._

"Ah. You're back. And just in time too, Victor was about to have a heart attack over wondering what you two were doing," Chris joked.

"No, I wasn't! Geez, now I _do_ feel old…thanks a lot, Chris..." Victor buried his head in his arms.

Phichit performs a stunning triple axel, and the skaters standing at the boards cheered for him.

"What were you and Chris talking about? Something about 'love can be blinding?'" Yuri returned to his first question.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, I said that love can be blinding, at most times."

He continued, "The more you care, the more your judgment will be hindered. You'd trust your lover with a lot of things and you'd do _anything_ for them. Which leads to unwise decisions..."

"I know," Victor said quietly.

His hair partially covering his face as his eyes stayed glued on Phichit's step sequence. The three skaters looked at him, curious about his sudden change in tone.

"I know that all too well..."

Yuri sensed that something was wrong. "Hey, Victor? If there's something bothering you, I'm here to listen."

"There's nothing to talk about, Yuri. Let's just watch Phichit's free skate, ok?" Victor said in a gentle voice.

Yuri didn't give up. "But I just wanna hel—"

"Yuri." Victor's tone was not as warm as it was before. "There's nothing to talk about."

Phichit finishes his free skate program and the audience all jump to their feet in a standing ovation. Yuri was too shocked from the way Victor spoke to him to notice Phichit's free program score, which was a 146.31.

His total combined score was 237.05, landing him in fourth place. Behind Jean-Jaques, Otabek, and Georgi. Yuri was still in shock and remained quiet for the rest of the event until the final group rolled up.

* * *

 _Final group. Men's Free Skate._

The final six skaters left the ice as soon as the warm-up session was over. Yuri focused on the elements of the second half of his program but had trouble concentrating the whole time.

The first skater, Chris, exchanged a nod and supportive smile with his coach at the side of the boards before skating off onto the ice.

Yuri nervously put his skate guards on and went over to the stands, looking behind his shoulders to see Victor talking to Yakov. Thoughts about Victor's remark to what Chris said about 'love being blinding,' rushed back into his mind.

There were only a few times when Yuri saw Victor display any negative emotions. But what he saw back during Phichit's free skate, was pain. Victor was in pain.

That he knew, one hundred percent. He just didn't know why.

Yuri bit his lip as Chris' music came on, _Spanish Rhapsody_. The Swiss skater's opening jump, the quadruple salchow, was massive.

Victor was to go on after Chris. He looked out towards the ice as Chris went into his final combination spin, ending it all with one knee on the ice and one arm raised in the air.

Applause rained down from the audience as his score was being announced. 174.26 points for the free skate. A combined total of 279.75 points. Chris is currently in first place.

Yuri felt his body shake upon seeing the score. He's gonna need to skate cleanly in order to beat this. Victor goes on the ice and Yuri stands by the bottom of the stands, unable to go any further. _The Phantom of the Opera_ plays over the speakers.

The whole arena gave off intense vibes as Victor skated into his first combination, quadruple salchow/triple toe. Yuri felt goosebumps form on his arm when Victor's landing on the triple toe was a little scratchy.

" _Victor Nikiforov is making a comeback in the middle of the season!?"_

" _So he isn't retiring yet? Joyous news for all of the figure skating world!"_

" _Is he still with Katsuki Yuri? What is their current relationship?"_

" _What will we expect of them?"_

All of those thoughts floated through Yuri's mind as Victor went through his free skate. Victor's comeback in the middle of this season is amazing. His relationship to Victor is still coach and student. But there's definitely more than just that.

" _Really, Yuri Katsuki? You think you know everything about Victor Nikiforov?"_

A memory from what Yurio said that night at the Grand Prix Final banquet in Barcelona came back. Victor enters the second half of his program and goes into a triple axel.

Yuri knew that there's no way he'd be placing first at this Worlds. But at least a spot a podium...

 _I won't disappoint tonight. This is where I'll prove to everyone I wasn't having just one good night at the Grand Prix Final!_

Victor's program finishes with a score of 216.12, and a combined total of 326.80. He is in first place currently. Yurio goes over the boards as soon as Victor hops off the ice. Yakov gives him one last drink from his bottle before sending him off.

Yuri sits down in the stands and tried to focus his eyes on Yurio's free skate. At the same time when the music came on, _Allegro Appassionato in B Minor_ , Yuri was tackled from behind by Victor.

"Boo! Did I give you a stroke?" Victor asked right next to Yuri's ear.

"Umm...I don't think that's how strokes work...and well, you seem to be awfully cheery," Yuri remarked.

"Of course I'd be! You seem to be awfully down, which is a problem. You're going right after Gordon Kang, who's going after Yurio. Cheer up! This is the Worlds!" Victor exclaimed.

Yuri watched as Yurio performs a magnificent quadruple salchow. The youngster's stamina really improved since the Grand Prix Final.

"Yeah, and I won't be getting gold this time for sure. Five World titles...this is gonna take me until I'm 40!" Yuri slumped back.

Victor gazed on top of him, "So what? Then you'd be the first skater in history to retire at age 46!"

"What!? But Victor...you know that sooner or later, our bodies will give way. And besides, I don't want to stop you from having a life outside of skating...just because I didn't uphold my end of our promise..."

"Where you go, I go," Victor said taking Yuri's hand in his as the climax of Yurio's free skate came up.

Yurio revised this program to prevent himself from losing any endurance during the second half, and therefore more able to focus on the GOE instead of fall deductions.

Playing it safe at his first World Championships.

He finishes a clean free skate and goes over to the kiss-and-cry, where Yakov and Lilia handed him his water again. Yurio drinks it like it's his life energy as his score was being announced.

180.99 points and a combined total of 286.51. Yuri Plisetsky is currently in second place. Victor stood up and cheered as Yurio came over to the stands.

"Woohoo! Amazing!" He clapped.

Yurio shrugged and sat next to Victor and Otabek, who gave him a curt nod and smile.

"It really was amazing, Yuri."

Yurio softened up upon hearing the compliment from his stoic friend.

"I guess so. But let's see how the rest of the skaters will do, I don't want to celebrate just yet."

* * *

Gordon Kang of the USA was breathing heavily as he held his final pose. He fell on two of his jumps and stumbled on several others. This was clearly not his night. But he did just heal from an injury, so that could be the explanation why.

Didn't matter. His score from the short program should be enough to boost this less-than-ok free skate. Free skate score was 180.18, resulting in a combined score of 295.01 points. Landing Gordon in second place.

Yuri felt his own breaths just as heavy as Gordon's when he left the ice and walked right past the Japanese skater. Victor had quickly put on his tan coat and name tag in order to look professional while sending Yuri off with confidence.

"Yuri, listen to me. Forget about gold. Forget about becoming five-time World Champion, go out there and skate! Skate like the skater you dreamed of being since you were little! Do this for yourself!" Victor whispered.

"Ok," Yuri whispered back before skating to the center of the ice.

His music, _Yuri on Ice._

He opens his program with the quadruple toe/double toe. His landing was a bit scratchy, but he held on. His next jumps, the quadruple salchow, and the triple flip were perfectly clean.

Sometime in the middle of his program, Yuri forgot about the pressure of the competition. He was skating because he loved to skate. Because his long time idol was watching him, and loved to watch him.

He was delivering a performance for everyone, but he was doing this for himself. Yuri completes all but one of his jumping passes, though not all were clean, he felt more motivated here than at the Grand Prix Final.

The end of the program would be finished with a quadruple salchow. It's time to deliver! Finishing his last combination spin, Yuri goes into a quick choreographic sequence right at the very peak of his four-minute range.

Ending his sequence, Yuri goes into his quad salchow...and touches down on the landing with one hand.

 _Damnit!_ He was rushing too much to get this jump in before the music ended!

He quickly pushed himself back up and skates into his end pose. The crowd went wild. Yuri was brought back to reality. Sweat dripping down his forehead as he knelt on the ice and looked up at the bright lights shining down on him.

From the boards, Victor was amazed by Yuri's free skate. He had no words when Yuri returned to him and they sat down on the kiss-and-cry.

His score was an 181.07, giving him a total of 287.02. Yuri Katsuki is currently in third place. Yuri felt tears of joy rushing to his eyes. Victor embraced him gently, burying his head in his shoulder.

"You were in another world...Yuri. Out there in that moment, you were creating your own universe and were dragging the rest of us into it. That is the magic of skating," Victor said.

"I found it…" Yuri cried, letting his tears go.

* * *

Brian Szmitko of Austria falls on his last jump, the quadruple toe loop. He goes into his final combination spin with zero enthusiasm. He had either fell or popped nearly all of his jump elements in this free skate.

He knew that he was known as the 'skater with the strong short programs but breaks down in the free skate,' but this was an absolute disappointment.

Brian barely held onto his finishing pose without breaking down and immediately went over to the boards, where his coach comforted him. His score was 159.06, giving him a total of 266.97 points. Brian is currently in 6th place.

And that was it. The end of the 2016 Men's World Figure Skating Championships. The results: Victor taking the gold, Gordon wins silver, and Yuri Katsuki earned the bronze.

"Wait, I landed a spot on the podium?" Yuri exclaimed in disbelief.

Victor wrapped his arms around him from behind, lovingly.

"You did, my Katsudon. You did it."

* * *

 _The Medal Ceremony_

Yuri almost fell off his podium when he leaned forward to let the bronze medal be put on him. He stared at the shiny round symbol of achievement in disbelief.

Yuri almost fell again when he saw Gordon offer him his hand in congratulations. The silver medal glistening around the American's neck.

"Good job, today. That was an amazing free skate. Especially that end!"

Victor thrusts his gold medal out for the photographers as a fan threw the flag of Russia for him to catch. A flag of Japan and the USA was also given to Yuri and Gordon. They stepped off the podium and let the sea of the media envelope them.

Though Yuri was overwhelmed a little and attempted to skate away, Victor pulled right back in. Clinging onto his arm like they were superglued together.

Questions flew here and there, asking about Victor's comeback, Gordon's injury, and Yuri's risky move at the end of his free skate.

 _How on earth did skaters like Victor handle this kind of attention nearly all their competitive life?_ Thought Yuri.

As if he was mind reading Yuri, Victor answered, "Welcome to my world."

* * *

 _After the medal ceremony._

"Hey! There's the bronze medalist! Congratulations, Yuri!" Phichit cried as he threw his arms around him and took a selfie.

"Phichit, please don't be so loud…" Yuri complained, blushing.

"Hey, Yuri," Yurio said coolly, appearing behind him. "Good job today. You're good competition material. It was a close call this time, but next time, I'll be the one kicking you off the podium."

He was right. Yurio placed fourth behind Yuri and their difference wasn't too great. Should he have included more difficult elements, he would've taken third place.

Chris and Otabek clapped when Yuri entered the outside hall after the medal ceremony. Otabek congratulated him politely while Chris congratulated him on achieving his dream of sharing a podium with Victor.

"I know right?! Yuri! I'm proud of you! Even though it's a downgrade from the Grand Prix Final, it's still amazing! You showed us a new strong 'Yuri' tonight!" Victor cheered.

"Mmmhmm. Ending it all with the quadruple salchow? Well, no skater would've risked it. But you did," Georgi said.

Phichit jumped up to get everyone's attention.

"Cheers to Yuri! The skater who takes the highest risks! The 'skater with no fear!'" He cried.

"The 'skater with no fear!'"

"The 'skater with no fear!'"

"The 'skater with no fear!'"

Several people who were members of the audience, skaters, coaches, and reporters heard the skaters chanting and began to join in too. Cameras were going off like crazy and journalists were scribbling as if this information was the very essence of the universe.

Yuri stopped feeling overwhelmed and just let the whole situation slowly sink into him. He swelled with amazement from all these cheers and his new title: 'the skater with no fear.'

Victor pulled him in close. "See, Yuri? You don't need gold to win."

* * *

 _July 2, 2016. Hasetsu Inn_

Yuri was helping his family clean out the inn, they were glad he finally came home after the end of the 2015-16 season, and he wanted to be of help to them.

He picked some fallen newspapers and caught sight of the headlines on its cover.

 _JAPANESE SKATER, YURI KATSUKI NAMED 'THE SKATER WITH NO FEAR' AFTER PHENOMENAL FREE SKATE AT THE 2016 BOSTON WORLDS_

Yuri smiled sweetly upon seeing his new title. He is finally making his mark in the skating world. And he's going to work hard to uphold that title in the 2016-17 season.

Hopefully... Finishing up with the vacuuming of the guest rooms, Yuri went out for a run. His destination: Hasetsu Ice Castle.

"Hey, Yuri!" Takeshi, Yuko's husband greeted him upon arrival.

"Hey, Takeshi. Is um, Victor's bag still here?" He asked.

He was referring to Victor's personal gym bag that was accidentally left behind when he departed for Russia. Victor spent the last week of June, working with Yuri on his quadruple lutz, but had to go back to Russia for the rest of July and half of August for his own training.

And now he's complaining because he left behind his gym bag back in the Ice Castle in Hasetsu, Japan. Since Yakov refused to let him miss any day of vigorous training, Victor asked Yuri if he could bring it to him in Russia.

Takeshi took a key and gestured Yuri to follow him. He led him to the manager's office of the rink.

"Yuko kept in it here because we both knew the girls would be tearing away at this item if we brought it home," Takeshi chuckled as he unlocked the door.

"Good point," Yuri agreed.

Turning on the light of the room, Takeshi left Yuri as soon as he heard the front entrance of the rink open again, and he ran off to greet the newcomer. Yuri found the partially opened blue gym bag on top of a large filing cabinet.

Reaching up to grab it, he accidentally let his fingers slip and the bag came crashing down. Some of its contents scattered across the floor.

"Oh great!" Yuri wailed in panic as he began to frantically pick up all the fallen items.

He picked several bottles of hand sanitizer, an old phone case, a little journal with a lock on it, a Makkachin keychain, and photos that had fallen out of a disorganized photo album.

Yuri couldn't help but look at a few of the photos Victor kept in his collection. Several of them were from the night when Yuri had a little too much to drink…

But there was also a photo of Victor celebrating Christmas with Yakov dressed as a Santa. A photo of him and Makkachin posing in front of a large garden. A photo of him and several skaters at his rink attempting to perform the cheerleading pyramid pose.

And a photo of him smiling with a girl with dark wavy hair…

Yuri felt his breath stop. He examined the photo closely, trying to take in the whole story behind it. They were standing together, wearing winter apparel. The background was brightly lit up with festivities.

He closed in on the girl's face. No recognition.

"Yuri! Did you find the bag?" Takeshi's voice rang out through the halls.

He quickly put the photos back into the album and tightened the string around the bag.

"Yeah! Thanks!" He called out.

 _I need to share this with Yurio..._

* * *

 _Aug. 10, 2016. Ice Castle Hasetsu_

Victor demonstrated his quadruple lutz to Yuri, who watched in awe but also with focus.

He focused on the way Victor's upper body was positioned right before the take-off, the way his body leaned in the air, and the unwrapping of the leg in the landing position.

Skating over to Yuri, Victor gave some words of advice.

"Don't hold your edge for too long before the take-off. It's good to take your time, but if you overdo it, you're only rushing yourself to finish the jump before you hit the boards. And that's why you're falling on your landings."

Yuri nodded, "I'll try again."

He circled the rink in backward crossovers before going onto his back left outside edge. This time, he didn't wait as long before he planted his toepick into the ice.

Pulling his body in tight, Yuri rotated around four times and landed—on his rear end once again. Victor skated over to help him back to his feet.

"It's ok. That was better than the last one. You were leaning back too much and didn't get enough height, we'll work more on this later, ok?"

Yuri felt a little deflated.

"I need to have this jump for the Grand Prix Series...what am I going to do?"

"Hey, the first event doesn't start until around the end of October! You've got plenty of time!" Victor encouraged.

* * *

 _Aug. 15, 2016. At the St. Petersburg Ice Arena_

Yurio looked at the photo Yuri sent him: the photo of Victor and the girl with dark wavy hair.

He had only recently gotten his phone back from the custody of Yakov, who kept it away from him for the month of July as punishment for texting in the middle of one practice.

He walked towards the change rooms down the hall. Practice was already over and he needed to talk to some of his rink mates before they all left.

The doors opened and the blonde head of Annie Vasin appeared. She was pulling her rolling bag and stopped upon seeing Yurio.

"Oh hey, Yuri! That was a good practice today! I'm sure you'll do fine at the Grand Prix Series!" She smiled.

"Oh um, Annie?" Yurio asked nervously. They were rink mates, but they barely ever conversed casually like this before. They only acknowledged each other as skaters who skate at the same rink complex, albeit in different arenas.

"Yes?"

"When I say 'Victor Nikiforov,' what's the first thing that comes to your mind?" Yurio looked at her face for any signs of clues.

Annie blinked, dumbfounded. "Uhh...a pouty face begging Yakov to let him buy Makkachin a new sweater. I dunno, that's what I usually think of Victor. He was always so carefree, kind of cute for a guy his age."

"You think he's a good guy?" Yurio asked trying to stir some things out of her.

"He's a good guy. What are you trying to—oohhh...I see it now. I'll admit I kind of did, um, like _'like'_ him back in my junior years, but then again, a lot of other girls did too. And...I...uh...don't think he ever saw me other than just a rinkmate. If that's what you're trying to find out, Yuri," Annie explained.

Yurio's shoulders drooped in disappointment. This wasn't very informative. He's gonna try again later.

"Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow, Annie."

* * *

 _October. 10, 2016. Hasetsu Beach._

The weather was cool today, with a gentle breeze and slightly cloudy sky. Victor decided to take Yuri out to enjoy the day instead of off-ice training, despite the Japanese skater's protests.

At the long sandbar, Victor threw a frisbee for Makkachin, who immediately ran off to fetch it.

"Hey, Yuri. If it helps, I can lower your end of our promise," Victor suddenly said.

Yuri's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"Instead of promising me five World titles, how about just five first-place finishes in any ISU competition?" Victor answered as Makkachin returned with the frisbee.

Yuri felt tears come to his eyes. Did Victor not believe he could win any World Championship? Was that why he lowered his end of the promise?

Victor saw the look on Yuri's face and immediately began rephrasing his sentences. Realizing the mistake he's made, and the impact its already done on poor Yuri.

"Wait! I'm—uh—not saying that you can't win a—World title—Yuri! All I'm saying is that...you're right, I can't stay in the competitive figure skating world forever, my body won't allow it. I won't be able to compete with you when you get your fifth World title, but I will be there for your fifth gold medal," Victor clarified.

"I don't care!" Yuri clenched his teeth, trembling.

"Don't lower my end of our promise, Victor. You may not be competing with me forever, but I just need you to _stay close to me_. I don't want to earn anything less than what you asked of me in the first place…"

Victor was touched by Yuri's commitment. "Yuri…"

"I'm 'the skater with no fear!' I won't hesitate to put anything new or risky in my programs if it means that I can win with it. And I'll surprise all of you at the Grand Prix Final as soon as the season starts! I promise!" Yuri cried.

Makkachin jumped onto Yuri's back, in an attempt to comfort the crying man. Victor felt nothing but joy and love bursting from within. He took both of Yuri's hands and smiled gently down at him.

"And I promise to _stay close to you_ too…"

* * *

 **Sorry, if this chapter seems a little rushed, I really wanted to include as many events possible since I don't think next chapter is gonna come out until a very long time from now.**

 **I did a lot of revisions with my previous chapter and I probably will continue to do so every so often, so please I apologize in advance if some parts of the story don't make sense to what you read the first time.**

 **Anyways, I have yet to introduce any OCs in this story, but they will come pretty soon. This story is actually reeaaallllyyyy long, it's probably gonna take over a year or so before it's complete.**

 **Again, please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW if you want this story to stay alive!**


	5. Working up to the Grand Prix Final

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, all that I created was this fanfiction. Enjoy!**

 **Hey guys, I'm back! Exams are practically over now! (Banners going off in the background). I was literally doing a little bit of studying, a little bit of piano practice, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and of course. A little bit of working on Chapters 4 and 5!**

 **But boy! Do I ever feel so accomplished and relaxed! Until second semester begins and the stress piles up again...**

 **Well, at least I managed to get two new chapters released today! Again, please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW!**

* * *

 **Ch 4: Working up to the Grand Prix Final**

 _Friday. November. 25, 2016. Sapporo, Japan. Men's short program. Group 1._

Japanese skater, Katsuki Yuri, breathed deeply as he walked down the empty and quiet halls at the back of the arena. This was his second event of the Grand Prix Series.

The NHK Trophy.

Yuri placed second at his first event, Skate Canada. Jean-Jacques Leroy placed first, while Phichit Chulanont placed third.

Victor Nikiforov placed first at the Tropheé de France. He wasn't with Yuri at his first event, unfortunately. Luckily, they fixed this problem back in June when they received the assignments.

Celestino agreed to go in as Yuri's coach alongside Phichit for the Skate Canada event. For the second event, Victor and Yuri are both assigned to the NHK Trophy. There was no problem there.

Yuri Plisetsky, on the other hand, placed first at his first event, Skate America. And is assigned to compete at the NHK Trophy as well. This is the last of the Grand Prix events before the placements for the Final are confirmed.

This is the event where they will secure a spot in the Grand Prix Final.

* * *

Yurio sat in the stands among several of his competitors and teammates. He is one the skaters in the first group.

Yuri Katsuki is the first to go. He watched Yuri take the ice after embracing Victor in a hug one last time. As soon as the Japanese skater took his position, Yurio walked to the front of the stands to get a better view.

"You can do this, Pork Cutlet Bowl." Yurio whispered.

The soundtrack of _Les Miserables_ played and Yuri started his short program. He opens with a beautiful quadruple salchow. Yurio feels some of the weight on his chest leave him.

From the boards, Victor clapped with pride. He knew that the quadruple salchow would be no problem for Yuri by now. But Yuri's head was cloudy. Never had he felt so much pressure before.

Is it because of his new title? 'The skater with no fear?' Yuri knew that to live up to that title, he's going to need to take more risks. But deep down, he's afraid. Afraid of making a mistake. Of not making the Final. Of letting Victor down.

 _No!_ Pushing back all of those negative thoughts, Yuri goes into his triple axel/triple loop. Perfect!

Gaining more confidence, Yuri decides to revise the last bit of his program. Instead of doing a quadruple toe loop, he plans to change it to a quadruple lutz.

It was a risky move, considering that he isn't able to land it consistently yet. But he's going for it. Victor and Yurio both gasped as they watched Yuri adjust the transitions to prepare for the long back outside edge that goes into the lutz.

Digging his toe pick into the ice, Yuri vaults himself high into the air.

 _One...two...three...four—_

Yuri landed the jump—on two feet. He quickly straightened out his free leg and held his landing position as best as he could. The audience cheered when they saw that he didn't fall.

Victor had tears in his eyes when Yuri finished the program and skated over to him. Sitting in the kiss-and-cry, they saw his score.

It was a shocking 90.29 points. Victor's jaw dropped. And Yuri wished that he was granted the power to just disappear into the bench he was sitting on.

Yurio rubbed his eyes twice to see if the score was right. A performance like that should've broken into the hundreds! Never mind the two-footed lutz!

Instantly, the crowd began booing. But it all ended when Yuri left the kiss-and-cry, only to run off the scene.

* * *

Yuri Plisetsky finished a flawless performance, skating to _River Flows in You._ He had scored 106.01, landing him in first place currently. As soon as he saw his score, Yurio also rushed off the scene towards the hall where Yuri ran off to.

Victor went after Yuri when he disappeared after his skate. They still haven't returned. Yurio kept on running through the maze-like hallways until he found the Japanese skater sitting on a bench next to a vending machine.

He was on his phone but looked up when Yurio appeared.

"What are you doing?" Yurio asked. "Where's Victor?"

"Right here." Victor appeared from the side of the vending machine. He had his hands in his pockets and looked tired.

"Amazing performance, Yurio. I saw it all on the tv screen," Victor praised.

Yuri nodded in agreement. "You'll make the Final for sure."

Yurio stared him down. "You will too!"

Victor sighed as he walked past the two skaters.

"You both will." He gives Yuri a quick one-armed hug.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the stands. Yuri, you're feeling a lot better now, right? Finish up your 'math help session' with Yurio, then come back. Ok?"

With that, Victor walked away from the pair, turning around to give them a quick wink before disappearing around the corner.

* * *

 _Several minutes later…_

"Oh, so you weren't crying when you ran off? I thought that I'd find you locked up inside a bathroom stall with Victor trying to break it down," Yurio admitted.

Yuri laughed. "I wanted to cry. But when I saw Victor chasing after me, I realized what a weakling I was. I was always running away, always afraid. So I stopped, and Victor and I talked."

"You two had a good chat?"

"Yep, mainly about how he much he wants to go up to the judges and strangle one of them. But I talked him out of it. He seemed pretty darn serious."

"And here I thought, that he'd shoot the judge that gave you the negative GOEs for your step sequence!" Yurio said sarcastically.

"It doesn't matter how the judges score me. I'm happy with my performance, and so was Victor. I took a risk, and everybody loved it," Yuri said.

"Except the judges," Yurio reminded him.

"Except the judges," Yuri repeated.

Yurio stood up from the bench, gesturing for Yuri to do the same.

"Let's go back to the arena, Yuri. There're some people you need to meet. They might be helpful in solving our mystery of twenty questions."

* * *

 _Back at the ice arena._

Yakov pulled Victor aside from the stands to speak with him in private.

"Victor, don't do anything stupid. I know that you're mad about Katsuki's score, but you're going to have to let it be," Yakov pressed.

"I won't do anything stupid. But I sure as hell ain't gonna 'let it be!'" Victor said firmly.

"You're going to have to! You either let him continue the way he was and be scored like this, or push him harder and still be scored like this!"

"It was Yuri's choice to include that quadruple lutz into his program. Not me. Him. Not me!"

Yakov frowned. "Oh, so he doesn't listen to his coach now? Looks like he's taking after you a lot. Don't come crying to me when it all goes downhill again."

* * *

 _In the arena stands._

Mila Babicheva stood up when she saw Yurio arrive with Yuri. She was sitting with some of her teammates and other female skaters who are going to compete at this event as well.

"Yuratchka! Is this Yuri Katsuki?" She asked cheerfully.

Yurio nodded. "Mmhmm. Just don't claw all over him, ok you hag?"

"Whatever. Hi! I'm Mila Babicheva, one of Victor's rinkmates. You did an amazing short program, Yuri. If you need a petition for that underscoring, I'm your girl!"

Yuri smiled in return. "Thanks, but no thanks. I don't want any more drama than there already is. Yuri P. said that you can help out on—"

"Finding out the mystery girl from the game of twenty questions from nearly a year ago. I know, he's already told me everything," Mila explained.

"Us everything."

Another female skater turned around, she looked older than Mila and had long brown hair tied in a ponytail.

"Hi, Yuri! I'm Laurel Kopeykin. Yuratchka over there already told us of this little mystery you two are trying to solve. What makes you guys so interested in Victor's personal life?" She asked.

"Well, it started off with us just being curious. But then, I began to suspect something was wrong at the 2016 Worlds. Christophe Giacometti was talking to us about something...related to being in an intimate relationship...and well, Victor looked like he was in pain," Yuri explained.

"Not to mention this photo that you sent me is also very suspicious," Yurio added, bringing out a printed image of the photo Yuri sent.

It was the one where Victor was smiling with the wavy dark haired girl. Georgi, who was walking by, caught sight of the photo and said.

"Hmm. Looks like Victor had some fun at the 2014 Worlds."

Before he could walk away, Yurio and Yuri blocked his path. Mila and Laurel grabbed the skater and dragged him into an empty seat next to them.

"This was taken at the 2014 Worlds?" Yurio questioned Georgi.

"Well...yeah. I was at that competition. I remembered seeing Victor wear that jacket. It was in Saitama, Japan. I remember that there was a large festival being held too during those days."

"Who competed in the ladies' event?" Yuri quickly asked.

"I—I don't know!" Georgi confessed.

"Think harder!" Yurio demanded, causing poor Georgi to turn pale under his interrogation.

Laurel looked at the photo Yurio held in his hand more closely. A bulb formed over her head. "Wait, Yurio! Let go of Georgi! I think I might know who that girl is!"

* * *

Victor applauded when Otabek finished his short program. It was nearly flawless if it wasn't for the stumble on the quadruple loop.

Still, Otabek managed to score 103.73 points, putting him in second place currently.

"Hmmm. Where are Yuri and Yurio? Yurio wouldn't have missed Otabek's skate. Oh, there they are!"

Victor spotted them on the other side of the arena, standing with some of his teammates. "What are they doing?"

* * *

Back in 2014. I was originally selected for the Olympic team, but I got injured one practice. They got a replacement, a girl who looks a lot like the girl in the photo," Laurel explained.

"Uh huh. Who was she?" Yuri asked, getting a bit anxious.

"Now, hold on. I don't know for sure that she is the girl in the photo! Maybe that's just a lookalike, or maybe—"

"What. Is. Her. Name?" Yurio stressed out.

"Uhh...darn it! I...uh…" Laurel whacked her head.

Yurio pulled his hair in frustration. "Just think of her first name—"

"What's this? A party I'm not invited to? What's going on here?" Victor suddenly appeared.

Yurio quickly stuffed the photo inside his pocket. They all greeted Victor normally.

"Hey there! We were just talking about how unfair Katsuki's score was today! But we're sure he'll do great at the free skate tomorrow night!" Georgi said.

"Yeah!" All of the skaters said in unison. Working hard to keeping up their little act.

Victor nodded in agreement. "It doesn't matter what the judges say. What you did today, Yuri is already a gold-winning performance."

* * *

 _Men's short program. Group 2._

Michel Crispino, the third skater of this group, lands his last jump, the triple axel. He threw his arms up in the air in joy after he finished and cried in joy as he sat with his coach.

He's earned a score of 87.96. Michel is currently in fourth place. Victor was the next skater after Michel. Yuri squeezed his hand before he left, hoping for the best.

Yakov sent Victor off after whispering something inaudible in his ear. Victor did not glow as much as he usually did when he stepped out onto the ice this time.

 _The Godfather Theme_ played and he started his program. His opening combination, quadruple lutz/triple toe, was done successfully. But something was off, Victor usually performed his jumps with a flair. That was missing today.

His back to back spins were just as good as always along with his choreographic sequence. His signature quadruple flip was huge, but his landing was a bit unstable this time.

The largest surprise of all came when Victor stepped out of the landing on his last triple axel. Yuri, Yurio, and half of the arena gasped when they saw Victor mess up.

Victor managed to skate off the ice with a smile, but Yakov was not smiling. His score was 103.89, placing him in second, behind Yurio.

* * *

 _After the short program. Hotel game room._

Victor played a game of pool with Seung Gil and Michel. Yuri sat nearby, watching them play. Despite Victor inviting over several times.

He was too nervous thinking about the free skate tomorrow night. If he didn't do well in that, then there's no way he would make it to the Final. Yuri needs a placement of at least fourth, in order to round up enough points to surpass the contenders for the Final.

Currently, the top scores are 30 points earned by Chris, who placed first in both of his events. 24 points earned by JJ from placing first and fourth at his events.

Then came Georgi and Phichit, with 22 points. They placed third at both their events. Gordon placed sixth at his first event and first at his second, giving him a total of 20 points.

While Seville also has 20 points, from placing fourth and third at his events.

Unless something drastic happened tomorrow, Yuri predicts that the top three skaters at this event would be Otabek, Victor, and Yurio (not necessarily in that order, though…)

Since they already won their first event, and if they place high here as well, the three of them are definitely going to the Final.

If Yuri places anywhere lower than fourth, then his score would be 20 points and Gordon would qualify for the Final because he placed first at one of his events.

But if Yuri placed fourth, then he would have 22 points and would qualify over Phichit and Georgi since he placed second at Skate Canada. After about an hour later of enjoying themselves in the game room, Yuri and Victor returned to their hotel room.

Yuri was quiet as he squeezed the Colossal Titan pillow that Victor bought for him, getting ready to sleep. Victor saw that the short program score today still pained Yuri, and sat next to him, giving him a warm hug.

"It's gonna be alright. You'll make it to the Final. You're 'the skater with no fear!' And he doesn't fear the intimidation the judges try to put up!" Victor encouraged.

"I'm not afraid. I will do it! I'll show them...I'll show them they can't score me like that again!"

* * *

 _Saturday. November. 26, 2016. Men's free skate. Group 1._

Yuri was the last skater to skate in this group. He had been shaking ever since this event started. Victor worried about Yuri breaking down again like he did at the Cup of China.

But luckily, he didn't try shattering his pride like what he did back there. So there were no tears. He knew what to do. He believed in Yuri, and he comforted him.

Telling him that he's going to do great. That if places anywhere lower than fourth, it wouldn't mean that he lost. Victor was doing his best to make Yuri feel calm and supported ever since last night.

He did that all the way to this morning. To when they were on their way to the rink. To when Yuri was getting dressed up in the changing rooms. To the moment when he would send Yuri off at the boards.

But Yuri remained expressionless the whole time while Victor was trying to ease him.

"Alright, Yuri. This is it. Your chance at proving the big mistake the judges made when scoring you last night. Remember, all you gotta do is—"

"Victor...will you stop pretending to be a coach already?" Yuri suddenly said.

Victor was left speechless. He had no idea this was what Yuri was thinking of the whole time he was trying to make him feel better!

"I already know what I have to do. I don't need you to remind me. I want you to be...you. The skater who competes. Who breaks and makes world records. The skater I look up to. Only this way, I have the motivation to skate with no fear!"

With that, Yuri left the boards and skated towards the center of the ice. Victor couldn't believe what he heard. Was he really holding himself back this whole time? Maybe it was because of his lackluster short program last night.

The last thing he wanted for Yuri, is that he thinks of himself as a burden to him. Well, he's about to see whether or not Yuri has hardened at all from last year's Grand Prix Final and Worlds.

 _Ballade in G Minor_ played from the speakers.

Yuri opened his free skate with a massive triple axel/triple loop. He had revised this program since last night to gather up as many points as he can. They call me 'the skater with no fear.' Well, then. Here I come!

Yuri performs a clean quadruple salchow and finishes two back to back spins right after. He was on a roll! Victor saw the way Yuri presented himself, it looked so familiar and nostalgic...but so painful at the same time…

Yuri exits from an emotional step sequence and goes right into a quadruple toe loop. Jump after jump, Yuri landed all of them. The audience were no longer sitting on their seats.

Yurio stopped drinking his juice box and Victor felt like he could die right there and be happy.

Finishing his final choreographic sequence at the very climax of his music, Yuri heads into his combination spin thinking about the quadruple salchow he's going to end this free skate with.

No rushing it this time!

Yuri steps out of his spin and prepares to go into his final jump. The music reaches its last few seconds. Holding his breath, Yuri swings his free leg around as he jumps off his left foot.

 _One...two...three...four…_

And he lands it cleanly...on one foot! As Yuri holds his finishing pose, he could see his family, Yuko, Takeshi and their girls, and Minako all standing up at the stands closest to him.

They were all tearing up and applauding, while flowers, presents, toys, and coupons for katsudon diners were thrown all over the ice.

"Yuri!" A fan from the audience cried.

It was Minami. He was holding a giant rice ball plushie. Yuri smiled as he skates over to take the gift and pats him on the head. Minami nearly died right on the spot upon receiving the pat.

Skating over to Victor, Yuri saw that his coach was still frozen in time. Chuckling, Yuri quickly pressed the rice ball plushie's mouth against Victor's, instantly waking him.

And gaining a lot of squeals from the audience.

Victor felt like he was floating all the way to heaven, but was dragged back down towards the kiss-and-cry by Yuri. They haven't exchanged a word at all until his score was revealed.

A score of 200.58 for the free skate, and combined total of 290.87. Yuri is currently in first place. Victor gently brought the rice ball plushie up from Yuri's arms to give it a kiss again.

* * *

 _Men's free skate. Group 2._

Seung Gil Lee was the first skater of group 2. He chose the music, _Theme from Braveheart._ The Korean skater incorporated a lot of difficult jump elements in his free skate, including a magnificent quadruple flip/triple toe.

However, he fell on a few of them, resulting in deductions. And a score of 188.14, which is a combined total of 270.73. Seung Gil is currently in third place.

The Canadian skater, Andrew Vander followed after. Skating to _Children._ He focused mainly on keeping on his feet, so he would often fight hard on all of his landings.

His expression was calm for the most part, but would always tense right before entering a jump. Andrew earned a score of 181.14, and a combined total of 259.40. He is currently in seventh place.

Yuri left to talk to his family in the middle of Andrew's performance. They were all very proud of Yuri and the conversation was going great…

Until Yuri's mom started asking about his engagement to Victor and began planning for reception and guests. Yuri politely let her finish up her imagination of 'her son's perfect wedding,' before leaving to go sit with the skaters from Russia.

Mila and Georgi welcomed him back.

"Yuri! That was mindblowing! I knew that you would make a comeback in the free skate!" Mila cheered.

"Thanks, I honestly didn't think that I'd be able to break the two hundred mark, though…" Yuri admitted.

"Ah. But you did. And once again, you've proved yourself as 'the skater with no fear!' Let's see how Victor and Yuri P. responds to it!" Georgi said.

* * *

Otabek Altin was the third last skater to go. He was given several shouts of good luck from both Victor and Yurio before departing onto the ice.

He skates to _Lacrimosa._ Otabek was a powerful jumper. And also a consistent skater. What he lacked during his programs, was personality and refinement.

Otherwise, he'd be able to claim gold or silver at nearly every competition he goes to. His free skate was flawless and had a tone of mysteriousness over it.

Every jump, from the triple axel to the quadruple loop, was performed as if they were just transitional steps. Otabek had earned 190.71 points, and a total of 294.44. He had bested Yuri's total and is in first place.

Yurio and Otabek exchange a high five right before Victor goes onto the ice. Yuri leaned forward in his seat, anticipating how Victor would respond to his 200.58 points free skate.

Victor's piece for this free skate was _Croatian Rhapsody._ He was slow when beginning his program but gradually built up to the first quadruple loop/triple loop combination.

Victor was aiming for a new style this season. Not quite as flashy like his previous themes, but something more mature and showcased his actual skating skills.

Which seemed to suit him just fine as his jumps were considered 'textbook' by many experts and his step sequences were 'smooth,' and spins were 'controlled.'

Though in this free skate, Victor pushed most of his harder jumps into the second half for the bonus. Something he didn't often do.

Finishing his last jumping pass, the quadruple toe loop, Yuri sprang to his feet and threw his rice ball plushie into the air. Victor has responded to Yuri's free skate with a performance challenging him to do even better.

His score was 198.58, resulting in a total of 301.47. Victor is currently in first place.

The last skater of the night was Yuri Plisetsky. Victor gives him a quick pat on the back, which nearly pushed Yurio off balance and onto his face.

But luckily, Yakov caught him. As he skates onto the ice, he glanced around to make sure that the Pork Cutlet Bowl and Victor are watching him as he skates to _Battle of the Heroes._

The Russian teen went for a new style since his 'Agape' theme last year. A more powerful one. He puts all of his emotions into the opening jump, quadruple salchow.

It was done right on time with the choir!

Yurio skates his heart out throughout the program. It was truly a battle on the ice. Between him and all the scores from his competitors.

But in the end, he emerged unscathed and earned a score of 191.90. A total of 297.91, placing him in second.

Yuri sighed in relief upon seeing the results. He had placed fourth in the overall event, earning him the last spot to the Final.

* * *

 _In the front lobby of the ice arena._

"I knew you'd do it! You showed those judges! You made it to the Final!" Victor lifted Yuri off his feet and twirled around.

Yuri was surprised by how easily Victor was able to carry him without tripping. "Yeah, but barely! If I placed any lower, Phichit would've taken that spot." Yuri said.

Yurio scoffed. "Stop whining, will you? You got the spot, and we're all going to the Final. Can't we just all celebrate at the very least?"

Georgi and Mila appeared with Michel and his sister Sala. They all ran over to the three skaters upon seeing them.

"Congrats on making the Final! What are you guys planning to do tonight?" Mila asked.

"Well, we still have the gala tomorrow. What I want is a good night's sleep," Yuri answered.

Sala shook her head. "That's lame. C'mon, let's go out and have fun! I mean, this is Japan, Yuri! Show us around!"

"Yeah, Yuri! Show us around!" Georgi agreed.

"What are you guys planning to do tonight?" Laurel asked, showing up with Otabek next to her.

Yuri saw that he was obviously at a no-win situation and gave up.

"Fine. I can help you guys out with some of the language barriers. If you really want to have fun, I suggest that we catch the train at the Omiya Station to Tokyo. The trip shouldn't take too long."

The skaters lit up with excitement and enthusiasm.

"Alright!"

"Woohoo!"

"Now this is celebrating, Yuri!

* * *

 _Inside a karaoke box._

The skaters all laughed together while tossing the microphone around the room. Now, this was the way to spend a night!

Yuri was worried that they'd attract too much attention by coming here, but luckily, he knew the guy in charge of this karaoke place. To put it simply, the guy was a regular client at his family's Hasetsu Springs Inn.

And because of Yuri's relations to him, he let the whole group of 'foreign friends,' use the private karaoke room. The one reserved for special guests. Or for guests with major credit cards.

The skaters could all finally enjoy themselves in peace without having any public eyes or ears surrounding them. And a good thing too. Michel's singing voice was a bit on the scratchy side…

Apart from that, Yuri was surprised when he heard most of them sing.

He was expecting all of them to sound like high schoolers trying to sound like pop stars, but to be honest. They didn't sound half bad. Otabek's voice was the one that nearly knocked everyone's socks off.

Yurio did his best to keep his blushing face on the down low in the colourfully-lit room. JJ aside, Otabek's singing is amazing too!

"Oh my lord, Otabek. If you keep this up, I don't think my ovaries can handle it!" Mila said, bringing her hand to her forehead all dramatically.

Yurio scowled at her. "Hmph. Hag."

"Sounds like someone's jealous," Victor teased.

"Oh please, she is such a drama queen," Yurio pointed his drink at her.

"At least I'm a drama queen who can sing! Maybe Otabek and I should do a duet!" Mila smirked.

That's it! Yurio grabbed the mic from Otabek and the remote from the table. He immediately realized his mistake. Yurio felt his face grow hot as he remembered that never sang before especially in front of a crowd of people.

But it was too late now.

"Want me to choose you a song?" Otabek asked.

"Huh? Sigh, sure," Yurio hands him the remote and grabs an extra microphone.

The Kazakhstani skater picked a simple English song since that's the language the majority of them can sing in.

At first, Otabek led the way, and Yurio barely whispered the lyrics. But eventually, with everyone's support, the Russian teen's voice was heard. It wasn't as strong as Otabek's, but it wasn't off either!

They all clapped and whistled when the song was over.

"Amazing! I haven't heard another skater that can actually sing since Olivia!" Sala gushed.

"Who's Olivia?" Yuri asked.

"Why don't we choose a new song? Yuri! Wanna sing with me?" Victor asked, handing him the remote and the microphone.

"What?! But I really don't—"

Yurio stared at him intently. With a look that said 'if I frickin' sang, then you have to too.'

"What song do you have in mind, Victor?" Yuri asked nervously.

"How about a love song?!" Victor began scanning the lists at light speed.

"Awww! This is gonna be soooo cute!" Mila and Sala squealed as they took out their phones.

"Gah! But Victor...fine…" Yuri sighed.

They continued this little party into the night. Choosing songs, throwing popcorn around. And then after they left, they all went to several smaller stores that offered all kinds of snacks.

Georgi went back to his hotel with two bags full of shrimp crackers. It nearly eleven at night when Yuri and Victor returned to their empty hotel room.

* * *

 _At the hotel room._

Yuri spent some time in the washroom. He wasn't feeling too well. Probably from eating all the deep fried samples at one of the stores.

Victor knocked on the door to make sure he is ok.

"Yuri? You alright in there?"

Yuri let out another soft belch. "I should be. Don't need to worry...just go to bed."

A few minutes later, Yuri left the washroom. Feeling better, but only slightly. He took a quick shower to try and relieve himself, but it only caused him to break in a cold sweat whenever his stomach felt gassy.

Yuri sat down on the bed, wearing a bathrobe and clutched the rice ball plushie with one hand while holding the Colossal Titan pillow with the other.

Victor came out from the walk-in-closet, wearing loose night pants and a partly unbuttoned top. He saw Yuri sitting on his bed, his stomach gurgling. And Victor felt a wave of guilt and pity wash over him.

He knelt in front of Yuri, who weakly looked at him.

"I'm...not feeling too good...Victor. I can't sleep, I won't be able to," Yuri whispered.

"What would make you feel better? I can go to the nearby pharmacy and get something," Victor offered.

"No! I want you to stay here…please? Please don't leave me alone,,," Yuri almost begged.

Victor stepped in and took both of Yuri's hands in his. He looked down into his deep brown eyes. They looked so innocent, yet so smart and wild at the same time. Those were the eyes Victor fell for back during the 2014 Grand Prix Final banquet.

"Never," Victor said softly.

Yuri looked away from Victor's turquoise eyes in embarrassment.

"Sorry that I'm such a mess right now…"

"You're beautiful. You're perfect, Yuri. Don't let any sort of pain get to you...I'll be right here the whole night."

Victor wrapped his arms around Yuri's neck and touched his forehead.

"Victor…"

A thousand thoughts rushed through Yuri's head. _What had just happened?_ _What is this feeling he's feeling right now?_ _What is Victor feeling right now?_

There was this nervous excitement surrounding him, but Yuri has no idea what it means. Nor how to act upon it. So he did something stupid.

"Victor...do you love me?" But that was said in a barely audible voice.

"What? What is it?" Victor asked.

"Uh...do you love Yakov?"

Victor chuckled. "What kind of a question is that? Of course, I do! It's just that...he and I...have our disagreements. But he's helped me through more tight situations than I can count."

Yuri remembered the night of the short program. Right before Victor was sent off, Yakov whispered something inaudible in his ear. And Victor didn't perform as well as he usually did that night.

Yuri was entering dangerous territory, but he's taking the risk.

"Victor...I've been seeing you acting strange for some time. Back at the 2016 Worlds, when I tried to comfort you but you said there was nothing to talk about. And something happened between you and Yakov before your short program this time."

Victor tightened his embrace around Yuri, nearly knocking him onto the bed.

"Stop worrying so much, Yuri. Like I said, Yakov and I have our disagreements. And I am only human, I have my ups and downs in my mood. But one thing's for sure."

Victor loosened his embrace so he could look at Yuri again.

"I'm feeling really nervous right now…and a bit...excited…? Are you feeling the same…?"

That's when Yuri's thoughts were confirmed. He felt a huge weight lifted off his chest. "Victor...I just want to know how you really feel about me. I'm always guessing and assuming the status of our relationship. But I want to ask you now…"

Yuri stopped when Victor gently pulled Yuri towards him. Holding his head in both arms. Yuri could hear Victor's pulse through the fabric of his night top. He felt warm tears spill over from his eyes.

His stomach still hurt, but he didn't care. He never felt this close to someone besides his family. It felt...amazing.

"All you have to do is trust me...Yuri...and you won't have to feel so uncertain about us all the time," Victor said soothingly.

Yuri gradually felt his own arms crawl up behind Victor's back and pulled him in closer.

"Alright...I trust you Victor…stay here..." Yuri cried.

Without saying another word, Victor placed a gentle kiss on Yuri's forehead. Chills ran up his spine upon the gentle contact. The lights were dimmed, and the partly closed curtains allowed some of the moon to shine in.

Although Yuri had always feared to be in a situation like this because of how insecure he was about myself. He couldn't stop this from happening.

From letting Victor gently push him down against the sheets of the bed and caress his cheek with one hand.

Yuri held him down against him. It was like having a giant heated comforter! A comforter with hands that is slowly and gently going over every inch of Yuri's bathrobe covered body.

Goosebumps formed over every area of skin that Victor's fingers touched. Victor constantly gave little 'hm's?' for consent, and Yuri always answered them with a quick embrace.

The bathrobe slowly got looser and Victor's night top was soon unbuttoned fully and discarded. Yuri felt a little tension for a millisecond before Victor brought his face down, and Yuri felt their lips meet once again.

It was a special night for Yuri, going through a whole new stage in life. And most importantly, realizing how deep his feelings for Victor were. It was quiet now, Yuri had lost his robe and had himself wrapped within Victor's warm arms.

His forehead being pressed against his partner's bare chest. They were both wrapped up underneath the comforter on Yuri's bed. Barely opening his eyes, Yuri buried himself closer to try and hear Victor's pulse again.

As he scooched in, Victor moved ever so slightly, causing Yuri to gently look up to see if he was still awake. All he saw was the peaceful face of his fiancé, soundly sleeping with strands of his beautiful silver hair covering his closed eyes.

Smiling, Yuri snuggled against Victor and his pillow, preparing to fall back asleep. Until he heard Victor whisper something.

 _"Sigh...Live...so beautiful...Live…"_

Yuri tilted his head back up again but saw that Victor was still asleep. Was he sleep talking? No longer smiling, Yuri readjusted his head and closed his eyes, trying to fall back asleep again.

But he couldn't get it out of his head.

 _Who's 'so beautiful?' 'Live?' What's Victor thinking of right now?_

* * *

 **I swear the chapters are probably getting longer and longer...I just can't keep things concise! (Sorry to the people who enjoy shorter chapters more...)**

 **Reminder: FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW if you haven't already (and if you enjoy this!) :D**


	6. Fall at the Grand Prix Final

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfiction.**

 **And here's the second chapter of today. I had enough time on my hands to make two during the days when studying wasn't as stressful.**

 **Thought it'd be nice to release two chapters at once after about a month of waiting.**

 **FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW, please!**

* * *

 **Ch 5: Fall at the Grand Prix Final**

 _Thursday. December. 7, 2016. Marseilles, France._

Yuri squeezed Victor's hand as they walked through the snowy streets of Marseilles. Lights were lit up on nearly every department store and building that they walked by, making the air have a cheerful yet calm atmosphere.

The next day, the Grand Prix Final men's short program would begin. Tonight is the last night where they would be able to enjoy themselves before the pressure began.

But this time, Yuri doesn't feel the pressure he felt in his previous competitions. Well, he felt it, that's for sure. But it wasn't so significant to have an impact on him.

Yuri just brushed it aside like it was nothing. Since the last event at the NHK Trophy, Yuri's been feeling really positive, confident, and overall more open.

It was like he completely discarded the old awkward Yuri and became this new Yuri. He was still a bit shy and awkward when it came to certain situations, such as when Victor was showing him some samples of spray-on hair.

Yuri would usually quickly remove the can of spray-on hair from Victor's hand and ask why he would try such a thing. But this time, Yuri just laughed and complimented Victor, saying that spray-on hair is for people who wants hair like his.

And now, the two of them are walking back to their hotel from a day of fun and adventure. Yuri is also no longer afraid of publicly showing his relationship with Victor, to Victor's delight.

There was something about that night when the two slept together for the first time, that changed Yuri.

"Yuri, why won't you come with the rest of us to the Casino? You aren't tired already are you?" Victor begged as they exited the elevator on their floor.

"Sorry, Victor. But I already made plans with Yurio, I'll go with you guys maybe after the short program."

Victor looked a little deflated. "I wish you told me earlier. I kind of got my hopes up, and now I'm down."

They entered their hotel suite and settled down the several shopping bags they carried in their arms. Yuri removed his coat and shoes before grabbing his laptop from his travel bag.

Victor organized all of the bags together in a corner of the room. He turned to Yuri after he was satisfied with the arrangement. Grabbing Yuri from behind, Victor planted a quick kiss on the side of his temple.

"Alright, I'll be back around 10 or 11. Don't worry about me ok? Have fun with Yurio. I'll see you later."

"Ok, don't spend all of your cash! We're gonna need it if you plan on buying more stuff after the free skate!"

Victor laughed as he disappeared out the door. Yuri sighed as he admired his gold ring against the warm glow of the bedroom lights.

He checked his phone for any texts from Yurio.

 _Yurio: I'm in my room right now. Yakov's out doing some errands. R u coming?_

Yuri texted back.

 _Yuri: On my way._

* * *

"Took you long enough, I thought you and Victor would be back around 8:00!" Yurio opened the door to let Yuri in.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away. Minako wanted some pictures of the latest clothes and bags that were being sold. I didn't know which ones were designer and which ones weren't." Yuri sat down on the bean bag chair nearby.

"Why would Minako ask you, a guy, to take pictures of women's designer apparel?" Yurio questioned.

"Uh...she was planning to come to Marseilles herself with my sister, but uh...they accidentally boarded the wrong plane…" Yuri explained.

Yurio cringed.

"Damn. How are they going to get back?"

"I kinda have to go get them after the competition...they were not prepared for something like that to happen."

Yurio suddenly remembered the reason why he asked Yuri to come down. "Yuri! Turn on your laptop! I think I found out who the mystery girl is!"

Upon hearing those words, Yuri felt his heart suddenly slow down. Usually, he'd get really excited whenever they found a new clue to discovering who Victor's mystery girl is.

But now...Yuri couldn't help but feel like they should just drop this whole search. And it wasn't because he thought that it's invasive to look in Victor's privacy.

Well, it was sort of...

But the main reason is that he doesn't want to accept the fact that Victor might've been in a romantic relationship with another person before meeting Yuri.

Nevertheless, Yuri turned on his laptop and went onto Google. Where Yurio typed in the search bar, _Olivia Nguyen._ Images and websites related to her name popped up on the first page.

Yuri's eyes widened when he saw that this girl Yurio searched up was the same girl Yuri had sort of suspected to being the mystery girl.

 _...the Asian girl…_

Yurio clicked on the images button and selected an image of a smiling Olivia holding a gold medal and bouquet of flowers. He took out the copy of the photo of Victor with the dark haired girl.

Yuri looked back and forth between the photo to the laptop screen. It was an almost perfect match. Other than the makeup, attire, and different hairstyles, both girls in the images had the same features.

Yuri felt himself shrink inside as he stared the image of the girl on his laptop screen. She had pale skin and large dark brown eyes with mildly arched brows that gave her an innocent yet seductive look.

And deep brown, almost black, hair that framed a well-defined face. The beige dress she was wearing embodied her figure very well.

Lithe, but not a stick. Curvy, but not ample. She was Asian that's for sure, but she wasn't Chinese or Japanese. Almost Vietnamese...or maybe…

"What do you think, Yuri?" Yurio snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, this is probably her alright."

"Olivia Nguyen...silver medalist at the 2013 Russian Championships, gold medalist at the 2006, 08, and 10 Worlds, and bronze medalist at the 2009 and 11 GPFs...not as big as Annie's or Laurel's achievements but still pretty impressive," Yurio remarked.

"You mean not as many golds as Annie or Laurel. But she definitely placed more on the podium than they did." Yuri corrected as he scrolled down her medal history.

Yurio grabbed a piroshki from his snack bag and offered one to Yuri.

"Don't bother scrolling down for any more info. I already checked, there's nothing there about Victor. Or about her current whereabouts."

Yuri stopped scrolling and turned off his computer. He rubbed his hands through his hair, trying to absorb all of this new information. Yurio swallowed his piroshki before talking again.

"Her last competition was the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games. She never made a public statement of retiring, but she stopped making appearances in competitions after that." Yurio explained.

Yuri felt somewhat relieved to hear that this 'Olivia' is gone from the competitive world. He threw his hands into the air.

"Well that's that! Congratulations Yurio! We are officially Sherlock Holmes and Watson! Case of Victor's mystery girlfriend: solved!"

"Case not solved!" Yurio brought his hand down against the bed sheet hard.

Yuri stopped smiling and looked at Yurio, confused.

"Eh? Why?"

"We have no confirmation that Olivia is indeed the girl mentioned from the game of twenty questions. And not mention that Victor was crying when you asked him if she was still skating currently. This leads to something bigger, Yuri. And we're going to —"

"No," Yuri said flatly.

"What?" Yurio was shocked.

"I don't see the point in finding out more, Yuri. In fact, I don't know why we're even doing this in the first place! I dunno...it was just because I was curious and wanted to know something I didn't know. But now...I think we're just going in too deep."

"We're already in too deep. The only way out is to confirm. And then, things will be settled."

"I'm afraid, Yuratchka!"

Yurio fell back. That was the first time Yuri ever called him by that name.

"I know that Victor probably had a 'thing' with some girl before me. And now, we put a name to that girl. But I'm afraid. Is this something sensitive to Victor? Does he still have feelings for her? I don't want to...I don't want to lose Victor!"

Yurio understood. Why didn't he see it sooner? Of course, by now Yuri would have become so attached to Victor that he doesn't want the risk of Victor suddenly leaving him for an old lover.

But he still couldn't shake the thought of this whole thing being related to something bigger.

Yurio softened his tone. "I'm sorry. I was being insensitive. And you're right, we have no right to intrude into Victor's personal life."

"It's ok. Besides, I think you might be right too. There's something behind all of this. Victor...he cried when I asked about this girl's current state. He was in pain when Chris was talking about love and relationships. I guess the other reason I'm afraid, is because I don't want Victor to get hurt." Yuri admitted.

"Well then. If you want to help him, Yuri. Go talk to him. You care a lot about him, right?"

Yuri felt a surge of energy rush through him as he stood up again. "Right. I'll ask after the short program. I'll try not to be so to-the-point with it."

"Good. Well, Yakov shouldn't be back until around half an hour later. You want to—"

"Yuratchka! Come help me with some of these suitcases! Eh? Yuri Katsuki? What are you doing here?" Yakov suddenly burst in through the front door, dragging a whole trolley of suitcases.

Yurio sighed. "Never mind, I lied.

* * *

 _Thursday. December. 8, 2016. Palais Omnisport Marseille Grand Est._

The men's short program was starting today. All of the skaters were jumping, stretching and breathing a mile a minute. The warm up on the ice was already over and Yuri Plisetsky was the first one to go in this short program event.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Otabek giving him a thumbs up at the sidelines. Yurio returned it with a thumbs up too.

"Yuri," Yakov whispered.

"I'm listening."

"You are strong in your short programs, Yuri. Prove it to them."

Yakov patted Yurio in the back, sending him off onto the ice. The audience cheered. _River flows in You_ began playing over the speakers. Yurio started his short program with a gentle step sequence.

From there, he goes into his first jump combination. Triple axel/triple toe. Landed! Yuri applauded loudly when he saw the Russian teen land solidly on the triple toe.

Victor was standing by the rink side, talking to Chris and JJ. By the sounds of it, they seemed to be arguing over some unfair gambling from the Casino last night.

Yurio finishes his final combination spin and brings his arms out gracefully as he holds his finishing pose. Everyone applauded and cheered. Cat ears, tiger suits, and more of the related flew down from all directions.

The short program score for Yuri Plisetsky was 100.60. He is currently in first place. Yuri Katsuki was already on the ice as soon as Yurio left. Victor held his hands and whispered words of encouragement in his ear.

"I should be saying 'good luck', but what's the point? You're the 'skater with no fear,' you don't need it."

Yuri huffed upon hearing that. Victor's right. He didn't need to hear 'good luck.' He already has it.

 _Les Miserables_ played from the speakers and Yuri immediately went into character. All of the outer thoughts were pushed away as he absorbs himself into his own world.

First jumping pass, quadruple salchow was changed to a quadruple loop instead! He lands it ease. Yuri goes into his flying camel in synch with the music and his footwork sequence right after.

What's there to be nervous about? Nothing! His triple axel/triple loop was huge just like the one at the NHK Trophy. But all eyes were on the final jump and breaths were being held as Yuri approached it.

The quadruple lutz. Yuri goes into the preparation with a lot of speed. He holds the edge before planting his toe pick firmly into the ice.

 _One...two...three...four…_

And Yuri lands cleanly, on one foot! Victor literally began smashing Yuri's skate guards against the boards in joy when he landed the jump. Yuri completes his combination spin and ends his entire program. He throws his arms up into the air with joy.

And nearly lets out a yell. Yuri rushes over to Victor and embraces him. The two look at the score being presented while on the kiss-and-cry. 102.46 points! Yuri Katsuki is currently in first place.

Victor grabs Yuri by the shoulder and gives him an affectionate kiss on the side of the head. Right in front of all the cameras. It was all over the screen.

The audience and fans went wild. The squeals were loud enough to crack the ice! Yuri didn't pull back or look extremely awkward. He blushed and smiled at Victor's act of love.

Even Yurio couldn't help but smile at that. Chris smirked as he skated off from the boards to the center of the ice. The Swiss skater's song was _Carmen Fantasy._

It was a contrast to Yuri's emotional program previously, but that was what made it stand out. Chris goes into the quadruple loop/triple toe with success.

He skated with more added flair than he usually inputs. Even though he stumbled on his triple axel, he was able to hold it together through the last quadruple toe.

Chris finishes and lets the cheers rain down on him. Chris had scored 95.89 points, placing him in third currently. Otabek is the next skater after Chris. He is ready to take the ice.

The song, _My Demons_ filled the entire arena. Otabek presents himself fiercely. Each stroke he takes is done with power.

The first jumping pass, the triple axel was strong. But then suddenly in the middle of his step sequence, he catches an edge while doing a bracket turn and falls over.

This affected Otabek's confidence as he pops his quadruple loop/triple loop combination and falls on the last jump, the quadruple toe loop. Disappointed, Otabek tries hard to keep a firm face when he skates off.

His short program score is 91.94 points. He is currently in fourth place. The skater many fans were waiting for all night, Canadian Jean-Jacques Leroy takes the ice.

This time, he's skating to an unreleased original song. _Breaking Illusion_ is the name.

JJ's program is not as technically difficult as his previous ones, but was more enjoyable to watch. He connected even better to this program than he did at last year's Grand Prix Final.

JJ lands all of his jumps, triple axel, quadruple salchow/double toe, and quadruple toe loop. But the real show was when he went into his transitions and footwork sequences in between.

JJ finishes with a score of 94.63, beating Otabek's score and landing him in fourth place. Victor is the final skater of the night. He gives Yuri a wave before he departs. Yakov sends him off at the boards.

A hush falls across the arena as _The Godfather Theme_ began playing. This time, Victor performed his first combination, quadruple lutz/triple toe with great power and elegance.

He goes into his footwork sequence and back to back spins from there. Every stroke was done with personality and emotion. It was a dance. A story being told on the ice. Whatever the audience chooses to interpret.

And then the story was interrupted by a fall. Victor's quadruple flip was confident throughout until the landing. His had body suddenly dipped dangerously low and had to push himself back up with one hand.

But upon doing so, he catches an edge and falls over. Yuri covers his mouth upon seeing Victor make contact with the ice. Half of the audience nearly jumped to their feet in shock.

Ignoring that, Victor goes into the triple axel and manages to hold onto the landing, even though it was a bit scratchy. Victor skates off and goes to the kiss-and-cry with Yakov to see his score, which is 99.76. He is currently in third place.

Victor then felt the area around his neck and chest, a look of shock and fear appeared on his face. Yuri and Yurio ran off the bleachers towards Victor, just as he called over one of the little skaters that picked up the gifts the audience throws down.

The young girl nodded as Victor pointed to the opposite end of the rink and told her instructions that Yuri was unable to hear. She skated over to the end of the rink and scanned the ice closely. She bent down and felt it with both hands.

Almost like she was searching for something. When the young girl finally picked it up, Yuri could barely see it.

All he could see was the highlights of a silver chain necklace that had something round and gold hang from it. She skated back to the boards with the rest of the skaters, handing Victor the object.

Victor sincerely thanked her and squeezed the chain in the palm of his hand. Yuri looked down at the chain Victor was holding.

It was definitely a silver chain. And the thing that hung from it was without a doubt, a gold ring. But it wasn't the ring he had bought for Victor. No, Victor was still wearing that one on his finger.

The one on the chain had a slightly different design. Yuri felt a pang of anger and pain shoot through him.

 _Why was Victor wearing another gold ring? Even though it wasn't on his finger, he was still keeping it close!_ _What's the meaning behind this?_

"Yuri!" Victor called out cheerfully.

Yuri forced a smile back. He ran out to give Victor a hug. Yurio, who also saw the ring on the chain, backed up a little. Giving the two some space.

"Haha, looks like I just wasn't feeling my best today!" Victor laughed.

"Yeah...right…" Yuri chuckled nervously.

"Hey, come on. I'm only human, I fall every now and then. Why don't we get out of these uncomfortable clothes and head to the buffet?" Victor comforted.

It's not the fact that you fell that I'm feeling upset….thought Yuri.

"Hey, Victor? What you got there in your hand?" Yurio asked without hesitation.

"Huh? Oh, this? It's nothing really, just some woman's jewelry. You know, good luck charm...old gift...fell off during the short program. Boy, am I glad that I noticed before leaving!"

Victor carefully put the chain into his sleeve and grabbed Yuri's hand with the other.

"Come on, let's go. Want to come, Yurio?"

Yurio waved his hand. "Nah, I got a lot of stuff to do. Work just keeps…piling up."

Victor shrugged. "Oh well. Be sure to finish it all by the day if the free skate! We need to all go out to celebrate!"

With that, Victor dragged Yuri out of the arena. A few moments later in the front lobby, Yuri receives a text from Yurio.

 _Yurio: It's time to ask. Don't yourself hold back._

* * *

 _At the Chalet buffet_

"Yuri! I thought I told you to cut back on the barbecued ribs!"

Yuri looked down at his plate, realizing that he took three instead of one of the servings. Victor sighed.

"It's not like I'm going to gain weight again! Look, working this hard, I'll burn it off like it's nothing!" Yuri cried out in defense.

Victor played around with his drink's paper umbrella.

"I know, it's just that you're so sensitive that I'm afraid you might quit competing again after another failure. And poof! Piggy again!"

Yuri sweats. "Thanks for your confidence in me…"

Victor smiled sweetly at him. Yuri couldn't help but return it. They engage in a conversation about Yuri's life in Detroit, America. "Which area in Detroit did you and Phichit live in?"

"Uh...an urban area? The college we went to was the local one. It had a rather good reputation. It was close to the Detroit Skating Club so I didn't have to worry much about transportation," Yuri explained.

"I see. Were there any art programs in your college?" Victor asked.

"Huh? I don't know, I mainly focused my studies on business and data...you know, the basics? But I do remember Phichit mentioning an art institute in Detroit before. Why ask?"

Victor shrugged, resting his cheek on his hand. "Just curious." Yuri's eyes fell in the gold ring shining on Victor's finger. He felt the same heat of anger and pain build up inside him again.

 _It's time to ask!_ _Just not now…_

Yuri and Victor finished eating and paid for the check. The night was still young when they left the buffet.

Snow was falling at a slow and gentle pace. Yuri breathed deeply as he prepared to ask the question that's been bothering him since the night of last year's Grand Prix Final banquet.

"Victor? Can we talk?" Yuri asked as they neared the front entrance of the hotel.

"Of course. What is it?"

"I'm not sure myself. In fact, I don't know if I should even ask you this in the first place. But...I'm going to do it. Victor, that ring on the silver chain. Whose is it?"

Victor's eyes widened as he slowed down his walking to a halt. "Yuri...I already told you...it's just an old piece of jewelry…"

"I truly want to know, Victor. I—I care a lot about you, and lately, I've been feeling like you're hiding something from me. I can't stand this anymore!"

"Well, if you feel this way. Then maybe you can tell me what you and Yurio are up to exactly! I know that you aren't actually helping him in quadratics or whatever he needs help in."

Yuri was at lost for words. He didn't have a good comeback for that. What was he supposed to say?

"You're not the only who's been a little left out of this relationship, Yuri. And at least I haven't been asking you about what you've been doing privately."

"Victor, I'm…"

"Sigh. Just please, focus on your free skate for Saturday night. Ok? You're going to need your head straight to skate cleanly. And trying to peep into my personal affairs isn't going to help."

The two of them walked into the hotel in silence. Side-by-side. Up the elevator. Down the hall. And into their room. Yuri's initial anger was replaced by confusion and regret. The only words he and Victor exchanged were simple sentences and mere acknowledgments.

There was none of that nervous anticipation or excitement that Yuri enjoyed feeling when being in the same room as Victor. _What have I done?_

* * *

 _Saturday. December 10, 2016. Palais Omnisport Marseilles Grand Est._

Since that night when Yuri asked Victor about the origins about his other gold ring, Victor has been quiet and distant from Yuri. He would only talk to him when there were other skaters around too. Yuri felt like crying over the last two days.

But he directed his thoughts towards the free skate. He's going to need to really focus if he wants any chance of winning. And of making Victor happy again…

Yuri and Victor entered the arena together, still giving each other the silent treatment.

"Oh! Christophe! Where have you been last night?" Victor called out.

"Eh. Here and there...and everywhere…"

Yuri slowly walked away from their conversation. He didn't need to hear Victor's cheerfulness being directed to another person. I'll need to get Victor to look my direction again! This free skate may be the only chance I got…

"Hey, Yuri!"

Yuri turned around to see Yurio walk up to him. He was already in his warmup outfit and had a look of eagerness on his face.

"Well? Did you ask him that night? You weren't answering your phone yesterday and wouldn't come out of your room."

"I made things worse, Yurio. Because of our initial curiosity, Victor's being distant with me now!"

"Oh...I'm sorry. Maybe you were right, we should stop this search."

Yuri shook his head fiercely. "No. You were right. This leads to something bigger, and I'm not going to stop right now! I just Victor's attention first, and then I'll talk to him again. I'll tell him what we've really been doing behind his back. Hopefully, that'll be more than enough to get him to reveal what he's been hiding from me."

Yuri walked off to the sidelines, warming up on his own. Yurio left him be, walking back to Yakov.

It was about time he starts asking too! And not just Yuri. "Yakov! I need to talk to you. Can we go out to the back?"

Yakov looked confused. "Why? The ice is going to be opened soon for warm up."

"Please, just really quickly."

"Sigh. Make it quick, Yuratchka."

Yurio led Yakov down the hallways to the back of the entire complex. It was much quieter and no people were present. Perfect.

"Alright, Yuri. Ask me what you wanted to ask me."

"How long have you been coaching Victor for?"

"Huh? Well, quite awhile now. I've coached him since he was in intermediate, I think. And been watching him grow and improve ever since."

"Uh huh, does he ever talk to you about his personal life?"

"Sometimes. Victor is...a bit of whiner back then and still is today. I had to keep his head straight constantly, but in the end, he never really listens."

"Alright Yakov, was Victor seeing anyone back then? You know, was he in a relationship with anyone? Another skater maybe?"

Yakov's face grew serious. "...This is where I draw the line, Yuratchka. There are some things I just can't reveal. Why are you even asking these in the first place?"

"Yuri Katsuki saw that ring Victor dropped on the ice after the short program. Victor won't tell him anything about it, and he's been acting strange about things. Yuri wants to help Victor, he deserves to know. They're engaged, Yakov!"

Yakov brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

"If Yuri really deserves to know, then Victor would've told him already."

Their conversation ended there. Yakov took Yurio back to the arena, warm up began and all the skaters filed one by one onto the ice. Yuri didn't work in any jumps during the entire period of time. Victor barely gave Yuri any comments and was focusing on his own skills.

Minutes later, the warm up ended and the first skater went on. Otabek Altin hugged his coach, who comforted him over his short program. Otabek is going into this free skate with all he's got.

As he leaves the boards and to his starting spot on the ice, Otabek kept his face strong throughout. _Lacrimosa_ plays loud and clear over the speakers.

Otabek drops his serious face and goes into his performance face. Starting the program with a strong quadruple flip/triple toe. Otabek was putting out his everything into this free skate.

It was even better than the one he performed at the NHK Trophy. Yuri forgot about his own troubles for awhile and just watched Otabek's emotions pour out. He lands all of his jumps cleanly, even giving a little smile of accomplishment to himself after landing the last quadruple loop.

Otabek was beaming as he left the ice and saw his score with his coach. 195.81 points. That really was better than his free skate score at the NHK Trophy! Otabek has a combined total of 287.75 points and is currently in first place.

The second skater is Jean-Jacques Leroy. He seemed to be a little more confident now than he was in the short program. JJ left the boards with a large smile. He waits for his music, _Viva La Vida_ to come on.

JJ goes into his free skate with enthusiasm. He focuses on his expression and performance, rather than the jumps. The majority of the jumps were rather simple. His first jump was the triple axel which he lands cleanly.

The rest of his jumps were also landed without stumbling. JJ was on fire as he moved with the fast-paced music. His final combination spin caused the audience to already jump to their feet.

JJ threw both arms into the air in joy. Though he didn't score very high technically, his program components made up for it. 190.47 points for JJ. A combined total of 285.10 points. He is currently in second place.

Right before JJ left the ice, Yuri saw Victor walk towards him. Unable to move, Yuri sat where he was and let Victor embrace him without saying a word. Yuri didn't return the hug this time. But he did speak first.

"Have you finally remembered me?" He asked flatly.

Victor looked at him in the eyes.

"I owe you an apology, Yuri. I shouldn't have been so harsh with you that night. I guess I was getting annoyed over not knowing what you and Yurio were up to. And I felt a little forgotten myself…"

Yuri didn't say anything. He nodded for Victor to continue. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let out my frustration on you. I'm so sorry."

When Yuri still remained silent, Victor thought hard on what to say.

"I'll make it up to you. Let's go anywhere you want to go this time! We don't have to invite anyone else with us! What do you say?" Victor asked.

Yuri shook his head. "Make it up to me. By setting a high score so I can beat it."

Victor smirked and nodded. He was the next skater to go on after all. Yuri pats him in the back before he left.

Yakov gives him one last drink before sending him off. _Croatian Rhapsody_ plays and Victor begins his free skate. Yuri sits back and enjoys himself.

His first combination, quadruple loop/triple loop was gorgeous. The choreography was well made and Victor emphasized on every single tiny edge and turn throughout.

This entire free skate is fine-tuned to the core. From the smooth footwork sequence to the centered flying sit spin with variations, to the quadruple flip/half loop/triple salchow.

Victor delivered the whole package. Finishing it all with the flying camel combination. Yuri felt his entire body shake in anticipation for the scores. Victor and Yakov sat together as the numbers appeared onscreen.

210.14 points and a total of 309.90! He is currently in first place. Yurio whistled in a deflated tone upon seeing the score. Yakov left the kiss-and-cry to send Yurio off.

The young teenage skater had a look of determination on his face. Now that's a score to beat! His music, _Battle of the Heroes_ , matched his feelings as of the moment.

Yurio opens with the quadruple salchow and goes into the triple axel/triple toe right after. He isn't holding himself back too much this time. Performing two back to back spins so he can have the majority of his jumps in the second half.

Most of the jumps were well landed, except for the double-footed landing on the quadruple loop and the fall on the combination, quadruple flip/triple toe. Yurio holds it together for the final jump, quadruple toe, which he lands!

And finishes the program with a combination spin. Sweat poured down his forehead and breaths came out in ragged intervals as Yurio skated over to the boards.

Yakov handed him the bottle of water he so desperately needs. 196.92 for the free skate! And a combined total of 297.52. Yurio is currently in second place.

Yuri was already down in the boards when Yurio came off. Victor held his warmup jacket for him as well as his slightly-chipped skate guards. Yuri stepped onto the ice with confidence. He turned around to face Victor before he skated off.

"Victor, watch me. Watch me chase after your 210.14 points."

With that, Yuri leaves the boards and to the center of the ice. The aura around Yuri changed as _Ballade in G Minor_ began. The first combination, triple axel/triple loop was stunning. Followed by another stunning quadruple salchow.

Yuri barely had any change in expression on his face before he entered the jumps. The jumps are just transitions that linked together this whole free skate.

Competitions should bring out the best and worst in a skater. So if motivation and nerves are used properly, this will bring out the best of him! Yuri was not a part of this plane of reality anymore. He is in another dimension and is bringing them all in once again.

Victor, Yurio, and even Yakov were utterly speechless. Finishing the final combination spin, Yuri prepares himself to go into his last jump.

And he decides to change it from the quadruple salchow to the quadruple lutz!

He waits in his edge before takeoff. Pulling in tight, Yuri realized that he mistimed his takeoff. His body is positioned awkwardly in the air, but he couldn't stop rotating by now.

Attempting to stop the rotation, Yuri opens slightly—just as his toe pick touches the ice again. Yuri felt the back of his blades grab the ice and the shiny white surface rushing towards him.

 _Bam!_

Pain soars through Yuri's body from his left hip to his head. It was so bad, he could barely improvise a finishing pose. Tears automatically sprang in Yuri's eyes due to the pain. He attempted to get back up, only to fall back down.

From the sidelines, Victor dropped everything he was carrying and called out to Yuri before shouting for the first aid people. A group of first aiders rushed onto the ice with a trolley. But Yuri refuses to be put on.

Instead, they helped him make his way back to the sidelines where Victor also helped him to the kiss-and-cry. 195.87 points for the free skate. And 297.93 points in total. Yuri is currently in second place.

Smiling weakly, Yuri winces in pain from his fall, causing Victor and the first aiders to hold him steady again. They carefully take him out of the arena. Victor's hands never let go of Yuri.

His face showed guilt, pain, and anger at the same time. Emotions Yuri rarely got to see. The last skater Chris took the ice. But Yuri wasn't able to see his performance in real live experience.

Eventually, Yuri was put on the trolley due to the overwhelming pain from his left hip and the haziness of his vision from the hit on his head. Victor put a hand to his forehead affectionately.

"I'm so sorry, Yuri...I'm so sorry…so sorry…"

Victor's voice just got quieter and quieter. Until Yuri couldn't feel his presence anymore. And everything turned black.

* * *

 **Well, that's that! I don't know when the next chapter is going to be released. But I won't give up on this story. (As long as I have the motivation to write that is...)**

 **I hope you guys are enjoying this! :D**

 **Thanks and please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW!**


	7. Break up between coach and student

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfiction.**

 **I'll be _trying_ to release new chapters on a weekly basis from now on. But I can't promise that this schedule won't fluctuate as my semester continues onwards. **

**I hope that this chapter would get more views and comments since the last two didn't get as much (kind of disappointed, but not discouraged!)**

 **Please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW! :D**

* * *

 **Ch 6: Break up between coach and student**

 _Friday. December. 16, 2016. Hasetsu General Hospital._

Yuri sat upright on his hospital bed. His parents were right by his side, looking at him with concern. It's been almost a week since his fall at the Grand Prix Final.

Currently, he is in the Hasetsu General Hospital. The doctors here have been treating to his injury since he was discharged from the medical center in Marseilles.

The injury wasn't anything too bad. Yuri had only suffered a hip subluxation and minor concussion to the side of his head. His concussion has almost healed by now, but his left hip joint was still in no working condition.

Yuri felt his mom squeeze his hand.

"Mom, it's alright. I'll be discharged soon, right?" Yuri reassured.

"It's not that Yuri, I was always expecting something like this to happen sooner or later. So I guess I'm just a little scared right now." Yuri's mother stuttered.

Yuri's father nodded towards a basket of flowers and cupcakes on the bedside table.

"Takeshi and Yuko brought these in for you last night when you fell asleep. Add it to the collection of gifts you've already received."

Yuri smiled, looking at the pile of get-well presents all put together in the corner of the room. Over the past few days, Yuri was visited by a lot of people.

Phichit, who came the very first day Yuri was placed in the Hasetsu hospital room.

They talked about their goals for the remainder of the season. Phichit was the one who calmed Yuri down, telling him that hip subluxations won't cause his skating career to end.

Then came Minako, who brought him a bouquet of flowers. Minako scolded Yuri for attempting a jump he had yet to master in his free skate. Yuri subconsciously agreed with her. But the more stubborn part of him thought that the quadruple lutz was worth it, despite the injury it gave him.

Chris and JJ came by to visit Yuri on the third day. They made him feel comfortable with what happened at the Grand Prix Final and even congratulated him on winning the silver medal.

Yuri's parents are currently keeping the medal safe and sound in their inn. Yuri wasn't very used to conversing with other foreign skaters in a non-competitive environment, but Chris was able to make him loosen up and feel natural when talking with him.

Even JJ, with all his egotistical attitude, made Yuri less tense and laugh. This was the first time Yuri felt something more to Chris and JJ rather than just friendly-fellow competitors.

And he enjoyed that feeling. It was nice to have. Takeshi and Yuko brought their girls in later that week. They were all so sweet with Yuri. Yuri had never come to appreciate the people in his life as much as he did until now.

He and the Nishigori family spent the day playing cards and answering questions the girls had been dying to ask Yuri.

" _Are you still gonna compete at Japan's Nationals?"_

" _Where's your silver medal? We wanna see it!"_

" _Did any other skaters come by to visit? Can you call them back? Please?"_

" _Where's Victor? Did he not come by?"_

Now that question was what got Yuri's attention. During the time he spent in the Hasetsu General Hospital, he had not seen Victor once.

Victor was there for the first day in the Marseilles Medical Centre, but ever since Yuri returned to Japan, Victor was nowhere to be seen. Yuri had assumed that Victor was maybe hanging around his family's inn, but apparently, the Nishigori girls confirmed that he wasn't there.

The last visitor of the week was the greatest surprise of all. Yuri Plisetsky showed up outside Yuri's hospital room with an expressionless look on his face.

Yuri was so shocked to see him there that he had nearly forgotten how to speak. Yurio scolded him the exact same thing as Minako in the very first conversation they shared.

Yuri asked him where Victor was. But Yurio was surprised, thinking that Victor was with Yuri the whole time. This caused Yuri to worry and become afraid.

 _Where was Victor?_

Today is the last day Yuri would be spending in the hospital. The doctor entered with a smile on his face, politely greeting Yuri and his parents.

"Alright, Mr. Katsuki! You're officially discharged now! Remember, your hip isn't fully healed yet. So no skating until around a month or two later."

"I guess I won't be competing in this year's Nationals…" Yuri sighed.

The doctor sympathized with Yuri. "I'm sorry Mr. Katsuki, but here's the good news. There's a physiotherapist clinic near your home, I'm recommending you go there twice every week.

"With the proper exercises, you'd be back on the ice in—let's say around—three to four weeks. But remember, no difficult or strenuous movements the first day you're back on."

Yuri smiled in appreciation. "Thank you, Dr. Uemetsu. I'll do my best."

"Well, there isn't anything else we should be worrying about now, right?" Yuri's mother asked.

Dr. Uemetsu shook his head. "He can leave now, if you want, I can call in a nurse to aid you outside."

Yuri shook his head. "Thanks, but I think I can manage with my parents."

With that, the doctor left the room. Yuri's mother helped him stand up while his father fetched him his clothes. Yuri felt himself breath as he slipped into his track pants and sweater. It felt so much better than the hospital gown he was forced to wear for the past week.

After gathering up the gifts from his friends, Yuri and his parents made their way across the hospital hallways and down the elevator to the first floor. Outside in the parking lot, Yuri's sister, Marie was waiting in the front seat of her car. She came out to open the passenger seat door for Yuri.

Yuri's mother sat next to him while Yuri's father sat in the front seat. Marie drove the whole family back home to the inn.

Upon seeing home, Yuri felt a warm sensation within his chest. It was so good to be back after all the chaotic events that happened in the past weeks.

* * *

 _Saturday. December. 17, 2016. Hasetsu Inn._

Yuri was doing hip abductions in the outdoor sitting area. Strengthening the surrounding hip muscles was one of the exercises recommended to him by the physiotherapist.

He was in the middle of doing his tenth set when Marie shouted his name.

"YURI! Where are you?"

Yuri rushed back inside, prepared for the worst. Had a robber broke in? Did something happen to their parents? Maybe a guest had lost their child in the hot springs!

"Marie! What happened? What's the emergency? Marie?" Yuri looked around the front lobby room. No one was about.

"Hello?" He asked once more.

Suddenly the front doors flew open. Victor stood there, clad in a winter jacket with Makkachin by his side. He smiled warmly at Yuri. "Yuri! It's good to see you all standing upright and strong!"

Yuri ran forward to hug Victor, who was a little shocked by his sudden gesture. But slowly returned it. Yuri clung onto Victor like he was a dream and he was afraid he might fade away and disappear when he let's go.

"Come now, Yuri. Let's go somewhere quieter, don't you want to talk and catch up?" Victor asked gently, pulling away.

"Ok. I'm just...so happy to see you...where, where have you been when I was still hospitalized?!" Yuri demanded.

"Shhh, calm down. Let's go somewhere quiet first." Victor repeated himself.

Yuri nodded and led them to a private gazing area out on the other side of the inn. Yuri let Victor sit down on one of the lounge chairs that oversees the entirety of the rural neighborhood with its wilderness all the way to the coastal line.

Yuri nervously took a seat next to him. Makkachin leaned against the railings of the terrace looking towards the distance.

"Alright Yuri, let's talk," Victor said calmly.

"Where have you been for the last week? I tried calling, texting, and even emailing you! Why didn't you answer?"

"I'm sorry, my Nationals competition was coming up. You know, it begins around December 20 this year. Yakov didn't let me miss a single day of practice."

"I'm guessing your phone was also confiscated from you?" Yuri asked.

"Mmmm. I was afraid. From my experience, injuries in skating never end well. The last thing I wanted to see was you never being able to take another step on the ice again," Victor admitted.

"Then why did you come today?"

"To see if my worst fears came true or not." Victor turned around to face Yuri. "And they didn't. Thank god they didn't…"

Yuri felt a little relieved to hear that Victor was still concerned for him despite his absence. But he still held his suspicions.

"Yurio came by to visit," Yuri stated.

"What?"

"Yurio came in to see me a few days ago. Doesn't he have Nationals too? Why did Yakov let him leave and not you?"

Victor took a deep breath in before answering. "Yakov's a little more strict with me than he is with Yurio. And I'm pretty sure you know why."

Yuri sighed. "I guess. But still, couldn't you even spare a second during midnight to contact me? If you were in the same situation, I'd do that."

"Hey, you still matter a lot to me. That's why I'm here right now. Yakov was sensitive enough to let me off the hook until December 19, then I have to return to Russia. Let's make this time memorable! I'll make it up to you for not being there for the last week!"

Yuri smiled. "I'll hold you to that."

* * *

 _Saturday. December. 17, 2016. St. Petersburg Ice Rink._

Yurio skated over to the sidelines to grab a drink from his bottle. He was exhausted from working on perfecting his lutz all day. During this time, more skaters were on the ice than usual. All of them were catching up on their skills and programs for the upcoming Russian Championships.

All of them wanted a spot to the European Championships and Worlds. And the 2017 Worlds is where they'll determine the number of candidates of their discipline that'll be sent to the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

Yurio was among the competitors hoping to do his country proud.

"Good practice so far today, Yuri." Yakov said from behind him.

"Have I finally changed that flutz to a lutz?"

"For the single lutz, yes. For the triple, still a slight flutz."

Yurio groaned in exasperation. He might have to change one of his jumps for his free skate to make up for his not-too-great lutz.

Yakov decided to change the topic. "By the way, how's Yuri Katsuki?"

"He has a hip subluxation and can't compete in the Japan Championships this year. Doesn't mean he won't be selected for the international team, though. He still has some hope." Yurio said that almost with enthusiasm.

Yakov nodded. "He's lucky his injury wasn't any worse. Hip subluxations are pretty mild compared to some other skating injuries…"

"Like what?" Yurio asked.

"You don't want to know. Anyways, I hope Victor won't be affected too much by what happened. The last thing he needs is to feel guilty."

Yurio didn't answer right away. He stayed silent, thinking about whether or not he should ask his next question.

"Yakov. Does the name, 'Olivia Nguyen,' ring a bell to you?"

Yakov stared at Yurio. "Why?"

"Found some of her old programs online. She used to compete for Russia, right? I'm just wondering where she is now."

"How should I know? I don't keep tabs on every single skater here! And your break time is over! Back to work!"

With a sigh, Yurio put his bottle back on the stands and skated away to his usual patch of ice. From the corner of his eye, Yurio could see Yakov leaning against the window overlooking the snowy courtyard outside of the rink.

He could see the look of exasperation mixed with a slight pitiness on his face.

 _What was he missing here?_

* * *

 _Sunday. December. 18, 2016._

Yuri and Victor left early morning to start their day. They went to the train station and boarded the ride to the countryside, where they explored the wilderness and tiny towns hidden within them.

From there, they went to the coast and managed to find several intact sea stones. They left to go to an outdoor diner for lunch. It was interesting since the place used ingredients from organic local farms.

Halfway through the day, Yuri began to tire and ache from walking around. So Victor decided to call it a day and they boarded the next train back to Hasetsu.

Unfortunately for them, a delay in the tracks caused it to take an emergency stop near Tokyo. The passengers had the freedom to leave the train until the tracks were cleared.

Not wanting to sit on the train for several hours to come, Yuri mustered up the energy to walk out of the station and into the city with Victor. It was lightly snowing as they walked along the bustling streets of Tokyo. Victor offered Yuri his scarf when he heard his teeth chattering.

The train was still in the station by the time dinner was supposed to be eaten, so they went to a simple restaurant to fill their hunger. At last, after they left the restaurant, they saw some other passengers from their train begin making their back to the station.

"Finally! That took longer than I thought!" Victor exhaled, his breath came out in short bursts of white smoke.

"I guess so, but I had fun today. I'll be looking to see you on tv for the Russian Championships this week!" Yuri said.

They start walking back to the train station. The lights began turning on in every corner of the city streets.

"Don't push yourself so hard to return to competing. Seriously, take your time." Victor replied in a serious tone.

"I'm already feeling better, Victor. Don't sweat it. It's not like I can't skate anymore." Yuri said, almost defensively.

"No, I mean it, Yuri. Stay out of competitions for as long as the doctor told you so. Work on your physiotherapy exercises and stick to that. That's the best plan of action for you."

Yuri felt like Victor had just punched him in the chest. "Those exercises will speed up my recovery. I'll be able to compete in the Four Continents if the JFS select me." Yuri pointed out.

"What about after you've recovered? You still need to squeeze in the time to practice on ice! Will that be enough to prepare for Four Continents let alone Worlds?" Victor challenged.

Yuri stuttered, "Then I'll work overtime during those days—"

"Do you think you'd still be able to retain all of your skills without difficulty? What if you sustain another injury during your overtime practices? That will only cause you more trouble down the road! Working overtime will not help, Yuri!"

By now, a couple of people passing by looked towards the two men disputing on the street. But they ignored it and just moved on. Yuri decided to let Victor say what he wants to say, he didn't want to cause another argument. Even though this whole conversation seems to be going down the drain.

"Then...what do you suggest I do?" He asked quietly.

Victor put a hand to his own forehead, sighing.

"I told you, stay out of competitions for the remainder of this season. Focus only on the exercises given by the physiotherapist. We'll work on your skating skills during the off-season."

Yuri felt his jaw drop upon hearing that.

"But...the Worlds. What about my end of the promise? Won't you be disappointed if I missed the Worlds this season?" Yuri was barely able to say it coherently.

Victor took a step back in shock. "No! I'd be happy! Happy and relieved that you're safe in your home!"

Yuri caught his breath before speaking again. "Alright...then I'll stay out of competitions for the remainder of this season. Just—promise me that you'll work with me every day of the summer during the off season. Promise me…"

Victor raised a hand towards Yuri, but stopped abruptly, changing his mind.

"Promises...can't be kept, Yuri. But I'll do my best to ensure it happens. And I hope you'll do the same."

Yuri couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Is this even Victor? The same Victor that always supported him and encouraged him to surprise the audience and take risks?_

Victor put his hands in his pockets and looked at Yuri with solemn eyes. "Come on, let's get back to Hasetsu."

The two of them made it back to the train station and boarded the train on time before it began taking off again. Although Yuri was still hurt from what Victor said, he convinced himself that Victor's only doing this because he cared a lot for him.

That was what kept Yuri smiling on the train back home. Even Victor seemed to have put behind the argument they had back in Tokyo.

They finally reached their destination and walked the rest of the way to the inn. It was brightly lit up with decorative lights on the outside to celebrate the coming holidays.

Victor gave Yuri a good night hug before disappearing into his room. Yuri felt almost like they made up once again.

He walked to his room and changed into his night clothes. Taking out his phone, Yuri saw several notifications he received during the day, including texts from Yurio.

 _Yurio: r u there? Hello? Please answer_ 😢

 _Yurio: Yakov actually asked about how you're feeling. Old man has a soft side for you after all_

 _Yurio: found out more about Olivia. Really interesting info_

Olivia Nguyen...Yuri had a sudden urge to march straight up to Victor's door and demand to know who Olivia is.

One more text.

 _Yurio: damn her programs are really pretty. Check out her Sochi free skate_

Yuri read enough. With one swift movement, he fell into his desk chair and turned on his laptop.

Opening up Google, Yuri searched up 'Olivia Nguyen' once again. Wikipedia was the first link he clicked on. From there, he went on several other sites and forums, including Time Magazine, Golden Skate, and Icenetwork.

 _Olivia Nguyen. Cambodian heritage...used to compete for the USA...nationality switch to Russia...coach was Angela Raskalov...known for consistency and artistic presentation...the 'skater with the tiny jumps'...stopped competing for unknown reasons following 2014 Sochi Olympics…_

The more Yuri scrolled through the mounds of text and images, the more he felt his eyelids begin to drop. He was getting tired, but he didn't want to stop at the same time.

"Alright, time to... _yawn..._ see her Sochi free skate…"

Going on YouTube, Yuri searched up her free skate for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He picked the first video in the list. Yuri's vision was already becoming hazy and he had to lean his head on his arms to prevent it from falling forward.

The ad on the video finished playing and the actual video began to play. Olivia was on the sidelines with her coach, squeezing her hands before she skated off…

* * *

 _The next morning…_

Yuri awoke on his desk, realizing that he fell asleep with his head buried in his arms. His laptop screen was in sleep mode and it was early morning. Morning! Victor was returning to Russia sometime today!

Immediately, Yuri changed out of his night clothes and brushed his teeth. Going out of his room, he walked up to Victor's door. It was opened partly.

Yuri cautiously peeked through the tiny opening to see if Victor was awake. Victor was carefully folding his clothing and organizing his items into a single suitcase. Makkachin was still asleep on the futon.

Suddenly, he walked over to the night table and picked something up. It was the silver chain with the ring on it. Victor gently touched the ring and pressed his head against the wall, quivering.

Yuri accidentally stumbled forward, pushing the doors slightly open. Victor looked up in shock.

"Yuri…?"

Yuri bucked. He turned around and straight up ran. Out of the hallways. Across the front lobby. Out the front entrance. Down the streets. He didn't look behind once to see if Victor was chasing him this time.

He just kept on running. Suddenly, he felt his left hip throbbing again and winced. Looking around, Yuri saw that the ice rink was right up ahead.

Limping from lamppost to lamppost, Yuri made his way to the ice rink. It was opened, but Yuko and Takeshi weren't at the front desks. Didn't matter, he wasn't here to skate anyways. Just needed a place to sit and rest.

Yuri sat on one of the chairs in the snack room facing the large floor to ceiling window that overlooks the outside streets. Several minutes passed. Place was still quiet. And Yuri still couldn't get that image of the ring out of his mind.

The signs were everywhere. All of the clues were pointing towards the one fact Yuri feared the most.

 _There's someone else he's seeing…_

Everything was there. Victor's sensitivity regarding intimate relationships. His recent distant attitude towards Yuri. The denial of the significance of the gold ring around his neck.

Victor's secret is obvious to Yuri by now. He just needs a confirmation on _who_ and _why_. As if the gods planned for the next event to happen, the sound of footsteps was heard running towards the entrance of the snack room.

Victor appeared in the doorway, panting and relieved upon seeing Yuri.

"There you are! Care to explain what the game of cat-and-mouse was about back there?" Victor walked up to the table Yuri was sitting at.

"Thought you could use the exercise. You're going to compete soon in the Nationals. Running helps." Yuri replied coolly.

Victor grinned, tossing his head back in exasperation. "Still. That was really abrupt, it was almost like you've seen the Devil itself! I thought that an emergency happened or something! Nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Yuri made up his mind. There's no way he would ever leave Victor's side for the remainder of the season. He needs to know more.

"Victor. Listen, I changed my mind. I going to compete for whatever the JFS signs me up for. And there's nothing you can do to stop me." Yuri looked at Victor straight in the eyes.

Victor was quiet for a few seconds. Then he answered. "Yuri, we've been through this already. It's not safe to do what you're planning to do—"

"You always told me to 'take risks!' To 'not be afraid!' They call me the 'skater with no fear!' I'm not afraid, Victor! What are you so afraid of?"

"I know I said all of that! But look at what happened at the Grand Prix Final! My inexperience caused that! And now, I'm correcting my mistakes as your coach. The least you could do is take my advice!" Victor yelled.

"Well, what about before? The first time you came to me? I was doing just fine under your tutelage! Accidents happen, Victor. What's important is that we learn from them—"

"And I have! I learned as to not push you so hard but have you learned your part?" Victor asked.

"You're not only afraid that I might injure myself again. You're hiding something. You've been distant with me since I got my injury and there was this whole drama with the chain ring and the game of twenty questions…" Yuri's mind was like a train without brakes.

"Yuri—"

"And guess what? You were right about me and Yurio. We weren't doing schoolwork together, we were trying to solve your secret!" Yuri let everything rush out of him.

"Yuri—"

"Victor...I really appreciate everything you've done for me. I came to really care for you and really attach to you...but I know something's wrong." Yuri said.

Victor didn't say anything this time. He just stood there, staring at Yuri, waiting for him to say something.

"That ring...I...Yurio and I found a photo of you and Olivia Nguyen. Now I—"

"YURI!"

That voice barely sounded like Victor at all. Yuri nearly fell back from his chair upon hearing it. It was the sound of pure pain. Victor had his fists balled up and teeth clenched. His eyes flashed bright blue as he looked at Yuri.

"You have no idea what you're going into," Victor said fiercely.

"You're right. But I want to know. I can't help you if you won't tell me what I'm going into. I care a lot about you."

"I _told_ you to stop peeping into my personal affairs!"

"Victor, listen to me! I'm here to help you! Just like how you were led to me when I needed help via that viral video. I trusted you back then, now I need you to trust _me."_ Yuri tried to reach out to Victor.

But he began to shake his head and banged the table with his fists. When his face was visible again, Yuri could see tears spilling over his eyes. It made Victor look even more in pain.

"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! You have no idea, Yuri! You have no idea about how this world works! It wasn't _destiny_ that I was led to you! I saw your video by pure coincidence! Just like how you found about _Liv_ by pure coincidence!" Victor shouted.

 _Olivia...Liv! So that's what Victor meant that night when they slept together during the NHK Trophy._

What Yuri thought Victor had said, _'Live...so beautiful...live,_ ' was in fact _'Liv...so beautiful...Liv…'_

Yuri quickly countered back against Victor's argument. "You're wrong Victor! Things happen for a reason! Like how you were attracted to my video, which led to you becoming my coach."

"Fine then, why was I attracted to your video?" Victor seethed.

"You saw similarities between my skating and Olivia's."

Victor paused for a moment before pushing himself back from his standing position.

"I've heard enough. My plane is leaving at noon, but there's nothing wrong in leaving for the airport early." Victor turned around to exit the room.

"Victor—"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Not in a thousand years!"

"THEN I HOPE YOU FIND YOURSELF A NEW COACH IF YOU WANT TO GO TO ANY COMPETITION THIS SEASON!"

Victor bolted off after yelling that final sentence. Yuri took two seconds to process it. "'New coach?' Wait, Victor! Victor!"

Victor was already outside the rink and running down the steps. He was fast. In a blink, Yuri saw him disappear around the corner. Panic filled Yuri. His entire body was shaking with adrenaline.

"Yuri?" A male voice said from behind.

Yuri turned around. It was Takeshi.

"Oh, it's you! Takeshi, do you have a car?" Yuri quickly asked.

"Yes, but what's going on—"

"No time to explain. I need you drive me back to my family inn."

Takeshi led Yuri out the back parking after leaving a note for Yuko on the bulletin board about his sudden leave.

Takeshi unlocked his car and he and Yuri got in. Starting up the engine, Takeshi drove out of the parking lot and down the road towards Yuri's family inn.

Through the whole time, Yuri was silently praying that Victor is still there. Takeshi occasionally looked at Yuri but didn't dare ask about what's wrong. They reached the inn.

Yuri jumped out of the passenger seat right after thanking Takeshi and dashed up the steps towards the front entrance.

He ran through the lobby, nearly knocking over a pair of tourists. His mother scolded him. "Yuri! What was that about?"

Yuri quickly apologized. "Sir, ma'am, I'm so sorry."

"Much better." His mother replied.

"Mom, have you seen Victor? We kind of had a _little_ disagreement. I want to find him right now."

"What?! _Little_? From the way he walked in and picked up his things and signed out, he looked horrible!"

Yuri's fear came true. "Victor _left_?!"

Yuri's father entered the room, joining in on the conversation. "Just a couple seconds ago. Signed out, took his things and his dog too. Went down to the train station with a taxi."

Yuri didn't stay any longer to hear more. Despite his parents wanting to know what exactly happened. He barged out the front door just as Takeshi was entering.

"Takeshi! I'm really sorry about using you like this, but can you please take me to the train station?"

"Get in the car."

As they ran down the steps towards the place where Takeshi parked his car, Takeshi added. "You're owing me after this, Yuri."

"Yeah. I definitely owe you one." Yuri agreed.

Takeshi pressed the gas pedal and they drove down the road towards the train station. It was still early morning, so traffic wasn't too bad.

But still enough to slow them down every so often. Yuri impatiently tapped the glass on his side of the window. The light turned green.

They kept on driving down the road before making a turn that would lead them to the train station, which was in view by now. As they drove closer to the station, the light turned red again right at the intersection in front of their destination.

Without thinking, Yuri unbuckled his seatbelt and leaped out of the car. Takeshi called out after him, but he didn't listen. Yuri kept on running up the street. The train was scheduled to depart soon. If he could make it on time, he could find Victor.

Panting and sweating, Yuri rushed into the station, looking all over the crowded area filled with people. An eternity seemed to have passed when he spotted the sign that displayed the location of the airport.

Yuri pushed through the people and made his way towards the train. He catches a glimpse of Makkachin's furry brown coat amongst the sea of suitcases and people.

"Victor!" Yuri cried.

Victor did not turn around. The man quickly entered the train, disappearing once again. Yuri continued to push through the people but didn't see the small suitcase lying on the floor before it was too late.

He tripped and fell on his knees. His knees and hip throbbed in pain. Two men immediately asked if he was alright and helped him up. But Yuri didn't stop chasing.

Despite the ache in his hip, he limped after the train. Seeing the seat where Victor was sitting through the window. The train began to leave the station. Yuri limped alongside the moving vehicle.

He pounded against the window where Victor was sitting next to, desperately trying to get his attention.

"Victor! Victor!" He cried.

Victor gave Yuri one glance. His face didn't show anger or betrayal. In fact, Yuri couldn't tell what Victor was feeling right now. Other than the tear streaked face of absolute brokenness, Victor didn't express anything else.

Yuri continued to pound against the window as the train began speeding up.

"Victor! Victor! VICTOR!" Yuri was increasing his speed from jogging to running.

Victor simply shook his head in answer and looked away from Yuri, burying himself in his arms. The train left the station. Yuri slowed down to a halt, standing at the edge of the platform with his heart shattering into pieces.

Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled over his cheeks. But no sound was made other than his ragged breaths from running too much. Takeshi suddenly came up from behind and embraced Yuri in a tight hug. Yuri did not move from his spot nor did he return Takeshi's hug.

"It's going to be alright, Yuri. It's going to be alright." Takeshi comforted even though he has no idea what's going on.

Yuri fell to his knees and Takeshi tightened his grip on him so he won't collapse onto the ground. Everything began to operate again within Yuri's body as he brought a hand to his mouth, covering the sound of a sob attempting to escape.

More tears began to spill and his body began to shake. Gagging and ragged sounds came out as Yuri let reality wash over him.

 _Victor left him...he LEFT him!_ _And it was all because of his actions._

Yuri wanted to help Victor more than ever, but in the end, it only caused Victor to be pushed farther away from him.

Takeshi tried to talk to Yuri again. "Yuri, please talk to me! What happened? I can't help you if you won't tell me!"

"Takeshi…" Yuri mumbled. "What have I done? I thought I had this all under control, but I was wrong! Wh—what am I supposed to do now? Tell me...tell me!"

Yuri fell to the ground, kneeling with his fists balled up and his face flat. Several people looked towards him, but Takeshi signaled them to leave them alone. With a gentle grip, Takeshi pulled Yuri back up to his feet and let him be supported against his own body.

"Come on, Yuri. Let's get you back home. You need to sort this out and this is not the place to be right now."

Yuri did not say anything as Takeshi dragged him across the train station and back to the car parked outside.

"Victor…"

* * *

 **Thanks so much for reading my story! Seeing those views go up every day brings a smile to my face. And btw, some of the dialogue in this chapter was inspired by a chapter in one of my favourite books _Miles to Go_ by Richard Paul Evans (so props to him for parts of this chapter!)**

 **Anyways, please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW! :D**


	8. Listening and Explaining

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **Hey, guys! I'm back with a new chapter (I almost had no time to work on this at all! But I made sure that this chapter must be released sometime this week and not the next.) To the people who reviewed on my last chapter, thank you so much! You guys really pushed me to continue this story!**

 **I hope you all enjoy this new chapter as well. If you do, please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW if you haven't done it already!**

* * *

 **Ch 7: Listening and Explaining**

 _Friday. December. 23, 2016. Chelyabinsk, Traktor Ice Arena._

Victor's hearing was off today. Today was the men's free skate at the 2017 Russian Championships.

The short program took place the day before. And despite recent events...Victor still managed to top out in the lead. With Georgi and Yurio placing second and third behind him.

And now, Victor is standing on the ice at the boards. The last skater of the afternoon.

The cheering of the crowd and the commotion of every person inside the arena sounded exactly what Victor would hear if he was underwater.

He didn't even pay attention to what Yakov was saying to him. That is until he touched him on the head to see if he was still alive.

"Huh? What?" Victor shook out of his phase.

"Victor...Victor...can...you...hear...me…?" Yakov's voice sounded as if it was being played in slow-motion.

Victor nodded in response. Yakov points out to the ice.

"Time to go. Just...perform...ok? Pretend out there for the audience's sake."

Barely acknowledging Yakov's words, Victor skated out to the center of the ice. The sound of the cheers still sounded as if the audience were being drowned.

But luckily, the only thing that seemed to be in time with Victor, was his own skating movements. At least with that, he'll be able to push out everything else.

 _Croatian Rhapsody_ came on. The music emerged loud and clear compared to the rest of the background noises.

This free skate was an escape from reality for Victor. He let the entire performance wash over him.

Every single jump, from the opening quadruple loop/triple loop to the second half mark quadruple flip/half loop/triple salchow, was done with great flow.

There was something deeper behind his expression on his face while in mid-performance. Victor wasn't acting, he was being true to what he feels.

And what he feels now is...confusion.

Everything that's happened recently, he has no idea how to deal with it nor if he should even deal with it in the first place.

And this free skate showed it all. On the flat screen tv in the living room of the private areas of the Katsuki family inn.

* * *

Yuri kept the tv on throughout the whole free skate event from the first performance of the first group all the way to this last performance.

Upon seeing Victor on the screen, Yuri resisted the urge to turn the tv off...or more like the urge to hurl the remote at the screen…

It's been four days since Victor left Japan. Taking away a piece of Yuri that could never be healed with him.

And ever since their argument, Yuri has been crying and thinking. About how it all happened. About what could've been done to prevent it from happening. But most importantly, whether or not to reconcile.

From the first day, when Takeshi brought him home from the train station, Yuri has been comforted and surrounded by his family and friends.

They were all being very sympathetic and gentle with him, understanding the hardship of heartbreak he's going through for the first time.

His mom made his favourite food for dinner four days in a row. His father took him on a quiet trip to the waterfalls earlier that week.

His sister, Marie, always made sure that he wasn't doing anything that may harm his well-being and kept him company whenever he needed an escape from the loneliness of his bedroom.

The Nishigori family, Takeshi, whom Yuri is very grateful of, Yuko, and the girls, all came by to make sure Yuri was doing okay.

Takeshi and Yuko were easy to talk to. Being old childhood friends, it felt natural letting out all his feelings cramped inside of him out.

Yuri repaid Takeshi that same day when he looked after the girls while Takeshi and Yuko went out to do some errands.

It was the girls who gave Yuri the courage to continue on for the remainder of the season.

"You can't quit now, Yuri!" Axel cried.

"Japan still needs you! I mean—not that the rest of the skaters are bad or anything—but you're the one who's achieved a lot last season!" Lutz agreed.

"Besides, if anyone's going to be sent to Pyeongchang, it's you!" Loop added.

At least after that, Yuri knew that he shouldn't stop competing right now.

Days later, Yuri was washed over with the same wave of pain he felt the first day when his heart got broke.

He stayed in his room with his head buried in his pillow and cried for what seemed like an eternity.

Yuri looked at all of the awards and medals he's received from past competitions. He felt like throwing them all out into the garbage.

In an attempt to divert his attention from that, he yanked open his closet, accidentally revealing his old collections of Victor.

That did not help him feel better. He banged his fist against the wall and let out a muffled cry.

Yuri slammed the closet doors shut and sat down at his desk. Sighing deeply, he looked at several old photos on his phone of him and Phichit.

They were taken back during his college days in Detroit. Though Yuri used to think his experience in America wasn't too great, life in Detroit now seemed way more pleasant compared to the chaos he's going through currently.

Scrolling through the photos, Yuri stopped at the photo of him and Celestino at a regionals competition.

At least with Celestino as coach Yuri wouldn't always be guessing at what he wants from him. They were always pretty honest with each other.

And Yuri missed that honesty in relationships.

He tapped Celestino's name on his contacts list. The ringtone rang a few times before going to the voice message.

Celestino's voice message was a gentle breeze to Yuri. After hearing the _beep_ , Yuri stuttered a quick message.

"Hello, Celestino? It's Yuri—Yuri Katsuki? Listen—I need to, uh, talk to you about something that's happened. It's— _voice crack_ —it's urgent. Please...call back. To my cell phone, 'kay? You know the number. Bye"

Yuri slowly lowered his phone from his ear in dejection. There was nothing else to do now. He just has to wait patiently and see whether or not he made the international team after this year's Japan Figure Skating Championships.

And that wouldn't be until a little after Christmas. Yuri's got lots of time to do whatever he wants. He needs to get his mind off of skating—more specifically off of Victor—for awhile.

Luckily, there were plenty of volunteer work around the neighborhood from helping out in the holiday festivals to simply distributing flyers to raise awareness for donating food and gifts. Yuri signed himself up for several different events.

It was a good way for Yuri to get into the holiday spirits and to feel some happiness again. He helped out around the inn too.

His parents were working hard putting up tons and tons of decorations. That included lights on the outside of the building, Christmas trees in the lobby, the outside springs, and the master guest rooms.

It was on a cold evening on December 24, that Yuri got called down by a volunteer head to help them finish setting up the final touches for a formal Christmas special near the edge of Hasetsu.

"I promise I'll be back for the family dinner." Yuri cried as he put on his mitts and went out the front door.

Yuri took his sister's car down to the area where the special would be taking place. He hoped that the decorations wouldn't take too long to finish.

It was Christmas Eve and he wanted to spend it with his family. It was one of the few times when he can finally celebrate with the people he cared about.

The sky was turning to a deep orange and purple as Yuri reached his destination. Cars were already parked by the road and lights and wreaths decorated the lampposts around the area.

Yuri got out of his car and went up to the central station of the decorating group. The volunteer head waved at him.

"Yuri! Glad you could make it! Sorry for calling you on such short notice, but we just needed a few more hands in finishing up the final touches."

He gestured down the sidewalk, where a few volunteers were putting up tinsels and lights around a lamppost.

Yuri nodded. "It's ok. I'll try to finish fast."

"Good to hear. Just take some of these, ok? Spread them apart down the road on the side facing the coast. Oh, and once you finish, you may leave freely, no need to sign out." The head quickly explained.

"Got it." With that, Yuri made off with a box of decorations and went down to the bare area other than the strings of tinsel.

Yuri took out some lights and began stringing them around the edge of the railing separating the sidewalk from the coastal area. The lights are battery powered so there were no need for power cords.

After using up the entirety of the string of lights, Yuri took out the red and green coloured bows and carefully tied them around the tinsel that was already strung around the railings.

Smiling and humming as he fixed a bow on a tinsel, Yuri didn't notice two people suddenly approach him from behind.

The first person quietly snuck up and tasered Yuri on his sides, causing him to nearly double over and fall. He turned around to see who his attacker was.

Phichit and Yurio stood behind him. Yuri dropped the bow he was holding.

"Surprise!" Phichit exclaimed doing jazz-hands to go with it.

Yurio nodded in acknowledgment, not saying anything.

"Hey…" Yuri mumbled.

Phichit's upbeat attitude changed to concern. "What happened Yuri? I've been trying to reach you for days ever since I got the _news_ from Yurio. But you never answered my calls or texts."

"You got the news from Yurio? But how did…"

"I overheard Yakov and Victor bickering over something about a "breakup" and that it involved "Katsuki." So I basically put two and two together and assumed the worst," Yurio explained.

Yuri looked down at his feet. He's been trying so hard to forget about his breakup with Victor, and now it's all coming back to him once again.

"Care to explain it in your own words?" Yurio asked.

Biting his lip, Yuri prevented a voice crack from escaping before he answered Yurio.

"Victor and I broke up. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't even know the exact reason why he left me, I just know that he's...not my coach now." Yuri quietly added, "or my fiancé…"

Phichit looked genuinely upset as he moved forward and embraced his best friend. "Oh, Yuri...I'm so sorry."

Yuri was ready to cry on Phichit's shoulder right then and there, but for some reason, the tears just wouldn't come. It was as if Yuri had cried out all of his tears during the previous days when he was suffering the most.

Yurio also looked upset and pitied Yuri. He shook his head in dismay.

"So it's true then. Still, I can't believe it. What on earth did you say that caused Victor to leave you?"

Yuri recalled the past events. "It started off as a dispute over whether or not I should compete for the remainder of the season. Victor wanted me to stay at home and heal, but I insisted on competing."

Phichit tilted his head in confusion.

"That's all? That doesn't seem like Victor at all, I'd imagine that he encourages you to return to competitions as soon as your injury got better."

"That's not all," Yuri explained. "There's more. I kept pressing my desire to compete again and Victor kept shooting it down. That escalated into a big argument and I guess that I...kind of touched on a sensitive topic in the middle of it."

Images of Victor fleeing the snack room of the ice rink flashed by Yuri's mind. That was the day that marked the last time he would probably see his idol.

"What do you mean by 'sensitive topic'?" Phichit asked curiously.

Yuri exchanged nervous glances with Yurio, who knew what Yuri meant by 'sensitive topic,' aka Olivia. Yurio did the talking for Yuri.

"It's something that he's not too comfortable sharing right now. What's important now is to figure out what to do from here on out."

Yuri nodded. He gently unwrapped himself from Phichit's embrace. "I already know what I'm going to do. Even if Victor won't contact me anymore, I'm not quitting competitions. I'll leave him be and see if Celestino is alright for taking me back. I'm planning on calling him soon."

Phichit shook his head in disagreement. To him, Yuri's solution was just giving up and escaping from the main problem.

"Don't say that. Victor will come around, he just needs a little encouragement."

Yuri remained unconvinced. "Oh yeah? I don't think he will even if I tried to contact to him. He probably just doesn't care anymore, I mean—I have to admit—I never thought of myself as the golden student. He deserved better, he probably even _wanted_ better deep down inside."

He scoffed. "And here I thought that my own hero came thousands of miles across the continent just because of a single viral video. Haha. What a joke."

"Stupid! You're so stupid, Yuri! You know how close I am to swearing right now?!" Yurio shouted, causing both Yuri and Phichit to jump.

Yurio contained his anger and heavy breathing to a minimum.

"You're acting as if you don't care about what happened. About Victor. This is more than just skating, Yuri. You'll always be bound to Victor on ice, but you two can only be _something more_ off ice."

Yuri thought over what Yurio had just said. Coming from a sixteen-year-old, those words had touched Yuri's heart and stirred a new sense of realization within him.

" _Something more,_ eh? But…"

"No buts!" Phichit cried. "Yuri, listen to me, when I say, that your relationship with Victor is nothing less than special. Don't lie to yourself, Yuri. Do you care about Victor?"

Yuri nodded. "Of course."

"Do you want him back?" Phichit asked.

"More than anything…" Yuri replied.

"Do you love him?"

Yuri remained silent. Did he love Victor? Love...such a strong word that seems to have such a simple meaning. But cannot be used incorrectly.

Yuri looked up to Victor and he wanted Victor to be close to him, always, but does that count towards love? Worst of all, if Yuri thinks he love Victor, but Victor doesn't feel the same.

"I…" Yuri began but never finished.

"Stop." Yurio held up a hand. "Don't say it to us right now. It won't mean anything. We're not the ones you're going to confess to. Get your head straight."

"Right." Yuri nodded enthusiastically. "Hang on, just let me get my phone—"

Yurio delivered a swift kick to Yuri's abdomen. Yuri doubled over and dropped his phone, but before he could pick it up, Yurio snatched it away from him.

"Stupid! Are you really this fucking stupid!?" Yurio spat.

Yuri pulled himself together, still looking a little winded from the kick and looked at the red-faced teenager before him.

Yurio paced around Yuri with his hands out of his pockets.

"Put yourself in Victor's shoes. You've just broken up with the person-of-your-life and had to cope with that trauma through a pressuring National Championships. What will it be that would make your world sunny again?" Yurio asked.

Just as expected, Yuri and Phichit remained silent, with Yuri also looking a little lost over what to do.

Yurio turned around. "A grand representation of your dedication to him!" He spread out his arms to emphasize what he meant by 'grand.'

"Don't just call Victor. Get yourself on a plane to St. Petersburg, show up outside of his rink after practice. Tell him you're sorry, and that you want to make up," Yurio explained.

Phichit nodded eagerly. "Omigosh, that's so...romantic! There's no way Victor will not forgive you if you do that!"

"Of course there's no way. And at the very least, Victor would give you the time of day to just have a nice conversation." Yurio added, returning Yuri his phone.

Yuri didn't what to say. Words can't describe the gratitude he's feeling right now for his two friends right here. What would've become of him if Yurio and Phichit never showed up today?

"Thank you so much, guys. I—I don't know how to even begin—"

"Save us the tears and get to the important part." Yurio cut in. "Aren't you here to decorate?"

Yuri realized that he still had a lot to go with the lights and bows. Checking his phone, Yuri realized that he spent too long talking and not enough time actually decorating the street. At this rate, he won't make it back for the family Christmas dinner.

"Ah, right!" Yuri began rustling through the giant pile of lights inside the box and rushed over to an undecorated part of the street.

He quickly tied one end to a stone railing and began tying the other end a little further down. But it was sloppy. The knots. The bows. Everything was falling apart. Rushing was obviously not helping.

Yuri sees one end of the string of lights fall as he adjusted a bow. He rushed over to catch it. Phichit caught it for him.

"You want some help?" He asked sincerely.

"That would be nice, but it's Christmas Eve. Don't you guys have plans too?" Yuri asked.

Yurio shook his head. "My grandpa came with me here. He's been wanting to come to Japan for awhile. This was just perfect timing."

"My family celebrates Christmas a little earlier, don't ask, that's just how things work with my parents," Phichit explained. "But...if you really want to decorate this all by yourself…"

Phichit began lowering the fallen end of the string of lights. Yuri panicked.

"No! No! Please. Yes, I'd like some help." Yuri admitted.

With that, Phichit easily tied the fallen string of lights back onto the stone railing while Yurio went off with a pile of wreaths. Yuri sighed in relief. Looks like things are finally starting to work out.

* * *

 _Later that night._

Yurio and Phichit helped with the decorations at around seven. Yuri put away the leftover boxes and bins before waving them off.

He drove back home in a rush, the family dinner was probably already starting without him. And he still needed to make some last minute adjustments to how he wrapped the presents he's planning to give out.

But the majority of the night went very well.

Yuri's parents and sister already prepared the tables and everything. The Nishigori family came a few minutes after Yuri finished rewrapping all of his presents. It was a very merry sight to see when they entered, with the triplets wearing reindeer antlers.

So cute!

The music was playing on the stereo, bringing about a cheery mood in the entire room. Grown-ups were talking to each other about life and about the ups and downs of the 2016 year. The triplet girls were running around playing hide-and-seek and begging Takeshi and Yuko to open their presents right now.

Minako came later, bringing a giant box of ice cream cake. That's when the feast began. It was absolutely amazing.

Yuri laughed for the first time in a long time during this night. Movies were watched, card games were played, the karaoke system was on full blast, and of course, the ice cream cake was divided amongst everybody. Although a little more of the cake went to Minako's plate.

It was a joyous night. It all ended around ten. By then, Minako and the Nishigori family had left the inn. Yuri and Marie helped their parents put away all of the leftovers and clean the dishes. The leftover cake was stored in the extra refrigerator in the basement.

After everything was finally cleaned up, Yuri took all of the presents he received to his room and changed into his night clothes before carefully putting them underneath his bed.

 _Beep, beep, click, click, beep, beep!_

The sound of Yuri's cell phone ringtone went off. Startled, Yuri took out his phone from his pocket and nearly dropped it upon seeing the name of the caller.

It was Celestino.

Yuri immediately answered it. "Hello? Celestino?"

"Hello, Yuri. How are you doing?" Celestino's familiar voice rang across the tiny speaker.

Yuri felt a warm feeling tingling inside of his chest. He didn't know what to say now, everything he was originally going to say had all gone down the drain thanks to Yurio and Phichit.

"Oh, Celestino...I—I'm just so confused right now. You see, I was going to ask you something, but now, I don't know if I should ask anymore. A lot has happened, and—"

"Hold on, Yuri. You're speaking a mile a minute, I can't understand half of the words you're muttering." Celestino said calmly. "Now. Take a breath, and explain everything to me."

 _Several minutes later…_

Yuri spilled the whole story of what had happened between him and Victor, omitting a few parts about the 'sensitive topic.'

Celestino was very patient throughout the whole story, allowing Yuri to rant on and be emotional from time to time.

"So, yeah. That's basically everything has that happened up to now," Yuri finished.

"Yuri...you're not planning on asking me to be your coach again, are you?" Celestino made sure.

"Uh, not anymore, for now at least. It's just that, I never really expected something like this to happen you know? Victor was the last person I thought who would leave me. I've never been through something like this before...so I just...I don't know…" Yuri mumbled.

"Yuri. I know that you've heard this a lot from me back then, but you have potential, you're just lacking in the confidence department. That's what happened at nearly every single one of your competitions, you had the heart, but not the willpower. Don't let this affect you off ice too." Celestino explained.

"I guess you're right. But I still don't know about Victor's feelings."

"That can't be helped, Yuri. Listen, people don't have the ability to read each other's minds, but we do have the ability to _take risks_. Now wasn't that Victor's personal motto? Just because Victor isn't here right now, doesn't mean it doesn't apply. Life will present you with plenty of challenges, skating or not, and you will have to be able to deal with them, Yuri."

Yuri nodded weakly. "I never really thought about that until now. You sound just like Yurio and Phichit. By the way, is Phichit planning to go to Four Continents? I forgot to ask him that."

"Yes, he is. Hopefully, I'll see you there with Victor as your coach again."

"I'll work to that. Thank you so much, Celestino. For answering my call and talking to me about this. I'm starting to understand so much better now."

"I'm glad to have helped you, Yuri."

"Mm. But seriously...thank you. I really mean it. Just because you aren't my coach right now, doesn't mean I don't look up to you for guidance still. I miss you, Celestino. Oh, and happy holidays!" Yuri exclaimed.

"I miss you too, Yuri. Happy holidays to you too on the other side of the world! Bye."

"Bye."

Ending his call, Yuri slowly lowered his phone onto his nightstand before going to brush his teeth. After leaving the bathroom, he laid on his bed with his eyes wide open.

Tears streamed down either side of his cheek as the moonlight shone in. His friends and Celestino were right. He needs to start actually _taking risks_ , not just in skating, but in life.

So what if Victor didn't feel the same about him? Yuri won't know until he tries.

And that will be starting tomorrow.

* * *

 _Monday. December. 26, 2016. St. Petersburg Airport._

Yuri went on the same flight as Yurio and his grandpa to St. Petersburg, Russia. He had already booked a room at a nearby hotel for about a week.

That should be more than enough time for Yuri to find and talk to Victor. For the first night in his hotel room, Yuri thought about what Victor's reaction would be when he shows up outside of his rink.

 _Hopefully, he'll be shocked. The worst that could happen is him not caring._

Yurio texted Yuri where exactly in the city to meet him the next morning. _Tuesday. December. 27, 2016: On the street that had the view of the waterbody._

From there, Yurio took Yuri on the bus he usually takes when going down to the rink whenever his grandpa's not available to drive him.

They reached the ice rink, it was a free skate session day, but a few skaters still showed up. According to Yurio, more skaters usually show up in the afternoon for free skate sessions.

But there is a break for lunch, and luckily for Yuri, it was nearly midday. From there, Yurio left him be to put away his skating bag in his locker and to see if Victor is inside the rink at all today.

A few minutes later, Yuri receives a text from Yurio.

 _Yurio: Uhhh...Victor isn't here...I have to go for lunch, you can stay here and wait if u want. Ask some skaters around. Most of them know English pretty well. Good luck._

Sighing, Yuri went inside the rink. The interior had a large modern feel to it. Its front lobby was brightly lit from the natural sunlight due to its large windows.

Yuri looked around, seeing if he could locate the direction to the ice arena from where the skaters were coming from.

Eventually, he got to the first arena. The ice was already cleaned by the Zamboni and there were no skaters left in the entire room.

"Y—Yuri Katsuki?" A deep voice suddenly said behind him.

Yuri turned around to see a shocked Yakov before him. He greeted the man politely.

"Hello, Yakov. I'm assuming that Victor already told you what happened."

"Yeah. Yeah, he did. I can't say that this is unfortunate, my own feelings about this is mixed." Yakov admitted.

"Doesn't matter. I'm here for one reason. Where's Victor? I see that he isn't here." Yuri demanded.

"Now hold on. I can't just tell you where Victor is. First, you need to know why he left you. Do you know why? And I'm talking about the argument over whether or not to enter in more competitions."

Yuri took a deep breath before saying it. "Olivia Nguyen, am I right?"

"You really have no idea about her, do you? Victor is a very unbalanced person, you can either push him off the ledge or more towards the center and—

"I told you that I'm here for only one reason. I traveled thousands of miles here just to talk to Victor. I don't know much about this Olivia, or whatever, but I know one thing for sure. I'm getting Victor back."

Yakov lowered his guard and saw the determination in Yuri's eyes. It was the first time he ever that in him. It was an improvement.

The old man gestured for Yuri to follow him. They walked to the front of the rink and towards the parking lot. Yakov led Yuri to his car, where they got in and drove out of the area.

They went down the road and made a turn that led them into a small two-way street surrounded by trees and wildlife.

This area was nothing like more urban parts of the city. Yakov saw the confused look on Yuri's face.

"This is the street Victor usually takes when driving to and fro between his home and the rink."

"Ok, but I don't see any buildings or parks here. Where's Victor?" Yuri asked.

"Right up ahead." Yakov nodded.

Yuri looked in front of him, sure enough, a small hidden entrance to a parking lot appeared and Yakov entered it. There was only one other car in the whole parking lot, Yuri assumed that it was Victor's car.

Ahead of him, Yuri could see a large white barrier that was near the road. There was someone there. It was Victor.

Yakov gestured towards the white barrier. "That's an outdoor rink. People rent it for certain times and the cost of renting it is pretty fair. Victor's there right now, go talk to him, Yuri."

Yakov drove off in his car, leaving Yuri alone in the parking lot. Goosebumps formed on Yuri's arms as he began walking towards the outdoor rink.

It's almost time to reunite with Victor again. At least he hopes so.

Yuri walked around the rink towards the bleacher area and walked up to the rink side door. Victor was concentrating hard on the ice, he did not see Yuri until he heard a single clap coming from the bleacher's direction after landing a quadruple flip.

Victor turned around. He stood where he was. Not moving anywhere.

Yuri stopped clapping and also stood his ground. Looking at Victor straight in the eyes. An eternity of silence seemed to pass by before Yuri began the conversation.

"Hey. It's been awhile."

"It has! It's been too long!" Victor cried in a cheery mood, which completely knocked Yuri off his boots.

"Hey, Yuri! Why don't you join me here! Did you bring skates with you?" Victor asked.

Yuri couldn't believe it. He thought that Victor would be more sensitive about the issue, but here he was, acting as if nothing had ever happened between them!

"Victor! Quit pretending nothing's wrong! You have no idea what you put me through, and yes, I understand that you had to go through Nationals feeling like crap, but I came here all the way from my home just to see you! The least you could do is—I don't know—burst into tears or something!" Yuri yelled.

Victor gently skated over, still keeping some distance between himself and Yuri.

"I know. And I'm truly happy to see you here...really, I am. How did you find me?"

"Yakov drove me here. I'm honestly shocked that he would do such a thing, though. But I'm glad he did." Yuri explained.

"So Yakov did...alright then. By the way, Japan released the list of skaters going to Four Continents and Worlds today. You're in it, Yuri." Victor said.

"Are you still against me going to competitions? I went to my physiotherapist a few days ago, she said that my injury is nearly healed by now. It wasn't all that serious anyways, I will be more careful."

"Yuri, it's not just our argument over your choice of competing that made me leave. You know that?" Victor asked.

"I know. And I'm sorry. Victor, I'm so sorry about how I yelled at you and asked about something that is none of my business. It was wrong of me. But I'm here to get back together, and I can't do that if we're not honest with each other."

Victor felt true sentiment in Yuri's words and skated towards the door of the rink side, propping his arms against it.

"Alright. You already told me about what you and Yurio had really been doing in private. What do you want me to tell you?"

"You know what, Victor."

Victor nodded in understanding. "Olivia Nguyen." It was the first time Yuri heard Victor say her name.

Victor sighed and lowered his head below his shoulders. "It's a long story."

Yuri gently reached out and touched the same spot on top of Victor's head once again. Neither person moved. The world came to a standstill just for that moment. Then Yuri caused it to wind again.

"I'll listen to you, Victor. Every single sentence, every single detail, I'll listen to what you have to say because I don't want to lose you again."

Yuri put extra emphasis on the last seven words of the sentence.

Victor almost felt tears of joy fill his eyes. He opened the rink side door and stepped outside. Sitting down next to Yuri on the bleachers, Victor began undoing his skates and putting back in his winter boots.

"You can start off with what your relationship with Olivia was," Yuri suggested.

"She was my first student. Well not officially, of course, but she was the first skater I ever helped out as somebody with more experience, like a coach." Victor explained.

He gestured to the outdoor rink in front of him. "This rink here, was where she used to practice. And where I first met her."

Yuri was shocked to hear this. "You helped coach her? Wasn't Angela Raskalov her official coach?"

"Ah, so you did research on her. Yeah, Angela was her coach, but then she got sick. And Olivia had to train herself under several different substitute coaches. All of them didn't do much, they just stood in for Angela so Liv could go to competitions.

The internet can only tell you so much about Olivia, Yuri. It tells you her history, her competitive career, her placements and programs per season. But it doesn't tell you that she was a serious otaku, that she owned the ugliest pet goldfish ever or her love of the arts."

Victor looked up to the sky.

"Drawing, singing, piano, creative writing, Olivia did all of that. Even figure skating. She was more than a skater, Yuri. She's an artist, just like you."

* * *

 **Well, looks like the Victuri ship is down the path of recovery! This is the last chapter where the story will be taking place in the present. Starting from the next chapter, the majority of the story will be taking place sometime in the past, with Victor as the main protagonist. My OCs will also start playing larger roles too.**

 **(Don't worry, the story will revert back to this setting again as soon as Victor is finished telling Yuri his story.)**

 **Thanks for reading guys! And I'll be back with a new chapter, hopefully, next week! :D**


	9. A former student

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **Alright, guys, I'm getting a little scared for this story. A lot of stuff is coming up lately for me and I'm feeling really stressed and overloaded, with grade 12 courses being due soon and everything (the pressure of choosing courses for the last year of high school! Urgh!)**

 **But I'm doing my best to update this story as regularly as possible. And please let me know your opinions on each of my chapters too. REVIEWS are what keeping me motivated right now. I'm just...so done with life now, buuutttt I gotta push on!**

* * *

 **Ch. 8: A former student (Before YOI)**

 _Wednesday. March. 20, 2013. St. Petersburg Ice Arena._

" _26-year-old skating genius, Victor Nikiforov takes away the title of World Champion once again!"_

" _Another gold for Russia in men's figure skating! How long will they continue to reign?"_

" _And that's the fourth consecutive win at the Worlds for Vic—"_

"Ah, give me a break." Mila Babicheva complained, turning the small radio player off.

It was near the end of the free skate session on Wednesday afternoon. The Worlds had ended about a week earlier.

Therefore, marking the end of the 2013 figure skating season. For many of the skaters here, this month would be the last time they will see the ice until around the end of April to early May.

On the ice, a few skaters were finishing up their practice and others were still working on jumps they had fallen on several times during the season.

But the center of attention was the silver-haired man in a dark attire, performing the last bits of a new choreographic sequence.

Yakov followed Victor around from a good distance on the ice, examining every move he makes. "Make that Choctaw quieter! Relax those wrists! Much better."

Victor ended his sequence and used a series of three turns to go into a flying death drop sitspin.

He increased his speed upon adding the pancake variation and then goes into a broken leg variation. He ends it all with a fast upright backspin.

Victor wiped beads of sweat away from his forehead as he looked over at Yakov for any comments.

Yakov nodded. "A bit rushed in some parts, but that's to be expected. You just made it this afternoon, after all."

"Actually, I was going for the rushed style. Most of my programs this season were rather smooth and lyrical. I needed something that's completely the opposite! Thanks for saying that my new sequence is perfect, Yakov!"

Yakov restrained himself from strangling him. Of course, Victor would say something like that...when had he ever listened to him?

"Well, that's it. Practice is over. Remember to come early on Friday morning, I scheduled the ice just for you so we can work on your flip." Yakov reminded him.

"Still can't believe I got a wrong edge call for that. It felt like an inside edge to me!" Victor began skating towards the exit.

Minutes later, all of the skaters left the ice and went into the locker rooms. Victor grabbed all of his belongings and tossed them into his bag.

Gloves, skates, skate guards, his program music CD...where was his Makkachin kleenex box?

Victor began frantically sweeping out his locker and then checking through his bag again. He suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder.

Victor turned around to see Georgi holding the Makkachin box of tissues.

"You left it here last night. I brought it to my home so it wouldn't get stolen. Here."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Victor cried as he accepted the box from Georgi's hands and carefully put it inside of his skating bag.

And that was everything! He grabbed his jacket and phone before taking his bag by the handle and pulling it behind as he left the locker room.

"Bye, guys! See you tomorrow!"

A series of 'byes' came from everyone in the locker room. Victor saw the Zamboni halfway done cleaning the ice as he walked towards the exit of this arena.

Out in the front lobby, Victor saw the new skater who had just moved up to the junior level and had joined this ice rink. Yuri Plisetsky sat by himself at one of the snack tables.

Victor approached the preteen boy. Yuri. P looked up as he saw him walking in his direction.

"Hi, there! Yuri Plisetsky, am I right?"

Yuri. P nodded. "That's me. You're Victor—"

"Uh huh! No need for last names here, unless you want me to call you by yours."

Yuri. P shook his head. Victor smiled gently at him.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

"My grandpa, he usually comes to pick me up. He thinks I'm too young to take the bus by myself. I have to wait until I'm at least fifteen."

"That's sweet of him to care for you like that. I don't have any siblings, my parents were like that to me too when I was your age."

"I have siblings. It's just that some of them live with my aunt and uncle somewhere else, and another one lives with my paternal grandparents. My parents...don't really get along too well."

Victor kneeled. "Hey, you'll make it through. I know that isn't much, but I don't really have the power to fix things. You just have to stay strong."

"I guess so. You always seem to stay strong. Is there a trick to it?"

Victor laughed. "No tricks. Just lots of practice and experience."

He stood back up from kneeling and grabbed his bag as he turned around towards the front doors.

Out in the parking lot, Victor unlocked his car and put his skating bag in the trunk before getting into the driver's seat.

Starting the car, Victor drove out of the parking lot and down the road before turning into his normal route for going home. The narrow two-way street.

There was always something new for Victor to spot while he drove. Like a fallen branch on a tree or a new nest being built by another family of birds. But this time, what caught Victor's attention was the movements of a distant person who seemed to be skating at the outdoor rink.

Victor opened his window slightly and slowed down. He could barely hear the sound of a familiar old song play out against the calmness of the snow-covered trees and plants.

Eventually, Victor slowed down to a stop and pulled over to the side. Victor knows that this outdoor rink is usable, but he has never seen it being used by someone. At least until now.

The skater—a girl who appears to be in her early twenties—was skating to _Sentimental Waltz_. And the layout of it all...it reminded Victor of a program he once saw back in his early days.

What was it again?

The girl landed a beautiful triple loop. Victor suddenly remembered again. The layout of the girl's performance was similar to a short program Yakov once performed a long time ago. Except for some parts where she incorporated her own style and variations.

The music reaches its climax as the girl goes into her final combination spin. It was fast and well-centered. Spins were obviously her forte.

She ended it with a rapid backspin before going into the finishing pose, breathing deeply.

 _Clap, clap, clap._

Victor stood by the boards, smiling and applauding. The girl turned around to see who was clapping, and upon seeing the person, fell back on her skates and into her rear end.

"You ok?" Victor asked.

"Ye—yeah." The girl got back up and patted herself free from any ice shavings. "Well, that was embarrassing."

"That was _Sentimental Waltz_ , wasn't it? You were skating to _Sentimental Waltz_?" Victor shouted.

"What?" The girl replied.

Victor gestured for her to come closer to the boards. "Why don't you come over here? Kind of weird having a conversation with you all the way over there."

The girl realized the distance between her and the boards.

"Right!" She immediately skated over.

Victor got a better look at her. The girl had classic oriental characteristics. With deep dark hair tied in a messy ponytail, pale skin, and dark brown eyes.

Victor asked his question again. "Was that _Sentimental Waltz_?"

"Yeah. You noticed?" She quietly asked.

"It's similar to my coach's short program back in the 1970s. Yakov Feltsman."

"Yakov Feltsman…? Wait…" The girl blinked twice at Victor's face. Instant recognition struck her brain. "Omigosh. Y—you're Victor Nikiforov!"

Victor tossed his head back for added effect. "Of course I am. That's no surprise. The real stranger here is you. You know my full name, but I don't know yours."

"Wait! Do you usually drive down here? Or was today just a coincidence?" The girl asked curiously.

"No, this is my usual way home. This is my usual way to the rink too. But I never saw you here before during all of my times when I passed by this area."

"Oh. I uh, literally just began using this rink. I think around maybe, last week?"

Victor nodded in understanding. "Well, that makes sense. Last week was the Worlds and I was competing there."

"The 2013 Worlds? I watched it on tv last week. Not too surprised when you won again, but I was a little bit when you came third in the short program."

"Yeah, well. It wasn't really my fault at all! My blades were too dull! I told Yakov that I needed to get them sharpened but he said that 'it would only affect my normal feeling of skating,'" Victor scoffed. "Yeah, right!"

The girl mildly laughed. "Easy for you to say. At least you can afford to sharpen your skates often. There are some of us who are forced to deal with dull blades. And we still land triples!"

Victor rolled his eyes.

"Wait. You still didn't answer my question from before!" He suddenly realized.

He whacked his head. "What was it again? Oh right! What's your name?"

"Olivia, my friends call me 'Liv.'" She replied.

"Last name," Victor demanded.

"Why? I know that you're not a complete stranger, but still…it's kind of weird?"

"It's not weird at all! It's only fair!" Victor countered. "You know my full name so I should know yours! It's called, 'evening things out!'"

Liv bit her lip nervously before answering. "Fine. Olivia Nguyen. How's that?"

Victor tapped his forehead, thinking deeply. "Olivia...Olivia...Olivia...wait a minute! Aren't you the silver medalist at the 2013 Russian Championships?"

Liv nodded. "That's me. I'm shocked that you actually realized. I'm not really that big of a deal here."

"I keep tabs on any skater that catches my attention," Victor said very matter-of-factly.

A slight blush formed on Liv's cheeks. Victor refrained himself from reaching out to pat her on the head.

"What's a senior level skater like you doing in a rink like this?" Victor asked.

"One word: cheap. I can't really afford for the free skate sessions back at my regular rink right now, so this is my solution." She explained.

Victor felt a wave of pity wash over him. It was sad to see a skater not being able to skate in quality training grounds due to cost issues.

"I see. And you're training by yourself too? Where's your coach? Or is this just a free practice day for you?" Victor asked.

"My coach is...not available. I'm kind of my own coach currently. But that ain't a big problem—at least for now! Anyways, my time here is up. I got to get home."

Liv opened the rink side door and stepped out, walking to the bleachers where a large purple skating bag was lying along with a red winter jacket. She undid her skates and put on her boots before going back to the barrier.

A cell phone and medium sized Bluetooth lay on top of the boards. She picked them up and stuffed the Bluetooth into her bag while putting the phone in her pocket.

Victor followed her at a good distance. Liv saw him still behind her and turned around.

"Is there, uh, anything else you want to talk to me about?"

"Yeah. When are you coming back here again?" He asked.

"Uh...probably Friday afternoon, around three? I rent this ice for every other day in the morning and afternoon. But Friday's are always afternoon practices."

"Is it alright if I come back here? That is, if you don't mind, of course."

Liv felt her jaw drop. Was this happening for real? "N—no! I don't mind!"

Victor grinned. "Great. I'll see again on Friday afternoon then."

He waved a goodbye to her before walking back to his car parked on the side of the road. As he started the engine, he could see Liv disappear into the parking lot next to the rink.

"Alright. Friday afternoon it is. I have my work cut out for me. That's beautiful potential right there. Can't let it go to waste."

* * *

 _Friday. March. 22, 2013. St. Petersburg Ice Rink_

Victor had been working on his flip nonstop all day. It wasn't until the afternoon practice after lunch break that he had finally corrected his flat edge to an inside edge. He threw his arms up in the air for accomplishment.

"Finally!" He cried.

"Now let's see if you're still able to do your lutz without flutzing." Yakov challenged.

Victor looked at the giant clock displayed above the entrance where the Zamboni comes out from. It read 3:31. He scratched the back of his head.

"Actually, Yakov. I need to be somewhere today, so is it ok if I leave before five this time…?"

"A lutz doesn't even take two minutes, Victor. I'm not letting you go until you show me a clean quadruple lutz." Yakov said firmly.

Victor had a face that looked like a kid who wanted to go over to the ice cream booth but his parents both refused. Yakov didn't give in, he was used to this by now.

Sighing, Victor circled the ice to build up speed for the lutz…

 _Several minutes later…_

"Alright, it's 3:48! Got to go!" Victor ran out the front doors of the rink with his bag dragged behind him and his jacket on his arm.

He threw them in the trunk of his car before driving down the direction towards the outdoor rink. It was a rather sunny afternoon, the sunniest it has been all week.

As Victor got closer to the rink, he realized that something was off. Slowing down and turning to enter the hidden parking lot, Victor realized that the outdoor rink currently was empty.

Disappointment filled him as he stared at the empty patch of ice. For a split second, he was tempted to go back into his car and leave, but he thought against it. Putting on his jacket and taking out his phone and earbuds, he leaned against the side of his car and listened to songs while he waited.

Victor shut his eyes for a few minutes while his music played in the background and then moved onto a new song. He had completely lost track of time, so he decided to check it again on his phone.

"She was here until around five on Wednesday. Maybe what she meant by afternoon is around four-ish?" He turned on his phone to see the time displayed on the lock screen, 4:05.

Victor put his phone back down. At the same time, he hears the sound of a car approaching from the distance. It was a small gray one that came closer and closer to the parking lot, before slowing down and entering.

Even from a distance, Victor could see Liv's face through the front window in the driver's seat. He waved at her. She waved back after parking in an empty spot and then getting out to grab her skating bag from the trunk.

Victor waited for her to come up to him. "Hey, Victor! Sorry, I'm late! You were probably here for how long?" She exclaimed breathlessly.

"Only a few hours, but it's ok! I haven't been waiting here for a whole day!" Victor laughed.

"What? _Hours?_ When do you usually finish your practice?" Liv asked, shocked.

"I wasn't serious," Victor explained.

"I know. I used to train in a specialized environment too, remember? Normally, practices don't end until around five or six in the afternoon." Liv replied.

Victor shrugged, stuffing his phone away. "Just making sure that you're still in the game. Let's get started." He began walking towards the rink. "By the way, why are you late?"

Liv removed her jacket and sat down on the bleachers to tied her skates. "I had to finish an overdue assignment. For my 3D graphics class. I had no time at all! With all this chaos going around...never mind."

"Oh, right. You're still in school! How are old are you?"

"23. I'm taking a Master's degree, so I won't be graduating until I'm 24. You're already graduated, right? I mean, you are 26…" Liv asked as she stepped onto the ice and began warming up.

Victor watched as she circled the ice with deep strokes, crossovers, and turns. There something very balletic about her movements, all of her edges were so very quiet that it almost seemed like she wasn't even on the ice!

After a few more circles and alternating direction, Liv skated over to Victor by the side of the board.

"Yep. Studied data and business, and...a bit of geology." Victor explained. "So, yeah. What college do you go to?"

"Uh, Leora. It's somewhere in the north of the urban district. Heard of it before?" Liv asked.

Victor nodded. "Yeah, but never seen it. What's your field of study?"

"Digital media and technology. I like art, and nowadays it's all about CGI animation and motion-capture. If skating doesn't get me anywhere, at least I'll have a backup!"

Victor crossed his arms. "Don't start thinking like that. You're a cut above the ordinary, you don't see that?"

"Compared to skaters like the 2013 Nationals champion, Annie Vasin? I don't think I turn many heads around." Liv admitted.

"You turned my head around." Victor pointed out.

He nodded to the opposite end of the ice. "Show me a few of your jumps. Start from the double axel and work your way up."

Nodding, Liv skated around the rink before turning around to prepare for the first double axel.

* * *

 _An hour later._

Victor nodded when Liv performed another spread eagle into double axel with an arms-over-the-head variation. From what he observed today, Victor could see that Liv was a consistent skater. He also saw that she could spin both in the counterclockwise and clockwise direction when performing her favourite combination spin.

Her jumps were all landed, however, compared to the expectations at his regular training rink, they weren't as high as the other skaters'.

"That's really nice! I told you that you can do it! And you said that you'd underrotate with that arm variation!" Victor said.

Liv grabbed a drink of her water. "I'm just not used to doing moves like that. I usually keep things simple, lower on the risk level. It's safer for me to play it out this way at major competitions."

Victor didn't say anything back. He looked at the time on his phone. It was past five. "Olivia, you want to call it a day? It's five."

"It is!? I didn't realize! Shit, I need to be somewhere! I got to go!" Liv jumped off the ice and quickly untied her skates and grab all of her belongings.

"Wait!" Victor called out after her. "What's your number? We should communicate about when to approximately meet whenever you're coming down here."

"I'll type it in your contacts list, just hand me your phone."

Victor unlocked his phone and started added a new contact on his list before handing it over to Liv, who typed her information into the blank spaces that required it.

She waved goodbye. "I'll send you the time when I'm going to be here! I'll see you again soon!"

Victor smiled as she drove out of the parking lot and disappeared into the horizon. Olivia displayed something on the ice that Victor seldom sees in other skaters. And it was this something that made her seem unique and attractive.

"I better not be the only one who sees it," he said to himself as he got into his car and began to drive out of the parking lot too.

* * *

 _Monday. April. 1st, 2013._

Victor had been seeing Liv for Wednesdays and Fridays over the last week. This is the beginning of the second week since meeting her.

And it was this afternoon when Victor received the text from Liv that asked if he was able to pick her up from Leora after his practice.

 _Liv: I'm sorry to ask, but my car's out of gas and the prices for it just went up! Is it alright if you pick up me after your practice? If you don't know the location, text me back._

Victor smiled upon seeing the text, it was nice to know that Olivia is starting to be more comfortable around him. He knew where Leora was, so that's no problem, no need to text her.

Victor was already on his way out of the rink and had everything all packed up when he saw the notification of the new text.

He goes out to his car and instead of going down his usual way home, Victor turned in the opposite direction and went towards the location of Leora College.

It didn't take too long for him to get to the front parking lot of the main building. The entire campus was rather large and seas of students were already coming out of the doors and are either leaving the campus or are just talking to friends.

Victor catches a glimpse of a familiar red winter jacket and assumed it to be Liv. He got out of the car and put on sunglasses as he walked through the crowd of students towards the place where he thought he saw Liv.

But the red jacket was out of view when he got to the front steps of the building. Victor looked around for any sign of it.

"Excuse, me?" A female voice whispered.

Victor turned around to see a female student carrying a handful of textbooks in her arms look at him in awe.

"Um, are you Victor Nikiforov?" She whispered eagerly.

Victor barely nodded. "Try and keep it down low, ok?"

"Sorry, I'm a huge fan—well—I was wondering if I can have your signature?"

When Victor nodded again, the student plastered a giant smile on her face and began frantically searching for a good spot to keep the autograph on. She dumped out a pile of contents from her bag before settling on an empty sheet from a notebook.

Victor looked around to make sure nobody else was watching as he scribbled a quick signature on the blank lined paper.

Just as he was about to finish, he heard Liv's voice behind him.

"Victor?"

Scribbling in the last letter of his last name, Victor returned the pen to the student who pranced away while squeezing the notebook against her chest. He turned around to see Liv—wearing a blue jacket instead of a red one. She was carrying a bouquet of orchids in one arm.

"Olivia! There you are! You said you needed a ride home, right?" He confirmed.

She nodded. "Yeah, I honestly didn't think you'd show up at all! I was waiting forever in the back parking lot."

"The _back_? You never specified where to pick you up!"

"I thought I texted you that detail! I was afraid that you'd get—well—swarmed by people. That girl from a few seconds ago? Didn't she ask for your signature?"

Victor waved his hand away. "No biggy. Let's go, the car is that way!"

They made their way down the concrete path towards the parking lot. A group of students gathered around the girl who recently got Victor's signature. They were whispering incoherent sentences.

Suddenly, one of them pointed directly at Victor and cried, "there he is!"

"Who?"

"Russia's darling in the figure skating world! Victor Nikiforov!"

"I see him!"

"Omigosh, I need a pic!"

"I'm your biggest fan!"

Victor managed a nervous laugh. "Oh, great... _run."_

With a push, Victor encouraged Olivia to start booking for the safe refuge of his car as a sea of college students began running towards him with their phones and papers out.

"Love the attention, guys, but if you really are my fan, you'd save your strength to root for me at the next GPFs!" Victor cried before he entered his side of the car and began driving away.

A loud round of applause and cheering followed behind and gradually died down as they got further away from the campus.

Olivia put down her backpack before adjusting her seatbelt. She let out a low whistle. Victor laughed.

"I usually love the attention, but now's just not the right time."

"And that's why I said the back parking lot. Oh and, I'm also assuming you didn't receive this text either. Can you drop me off at the North Bay University Hospital first?"

Victor felt chills shiver down his back. Hospitals always meant that something horribly wrong is going on with a person. Does Olivia have some kind of terminal illness?

"Why?" He cautiously asked.

"I need to see someone and I—oh shit!"

Victor nearly pulled off to the side upon hearing that. "What happened?"

"The orchids I bought! The tops are crushed. Probably when we were making a run for the car...why did this have to happen?"

"You can buy another bouquet of flowers, there should be a gift shop in the hospital. No?"

Liv sighed. "Yeah, but orchids aren't available there."

The rest of the car ride was done in silence. Minutes passed before the giant white building of the North Bay University Hospital finally popped into view. Liv gave directions for Victor to park in the east parking lot.

They entered the entrance on that side of the building and Olivia immediately went up to the front reception desk. Victor politely tagged behind, looking around the brightly lit hallway of the hospital. It was quiet with the exception of phones ringing and elevators and doors opening.

The smell of antibiotics and sanitizer is strong in the air. Olivia returned from the desk and gestured for Victor to follow her. They went up the elevator to the third floor, where several patients undergoing chemotherapy stayed…

Thoughts of the worst possible circumstances flooded Victor's mind as they walked down the hall. Olivia suddenly began speaking without looking back.

"You asked me where my coach was the first time we met. I said that she's 'not available,' but I wasn't telling the whole truth."

They stopped in front of one of the doors to a patient's room. Victor stayed quiet for Olivia to continue talking.

"My coach, Angela Raskalov, has stage 2 breast cancer. She was diagnosed with it last spring and has been undergoing treatment ever since. That's why I had that substitute coach with me for the 2013 Russian Championships, she wasn't feeling healthy enough to go herself."

Victor could hear the pain in Liv's voice. It made sense now why she was upset over the crushed orchids. Those flowers were probably Angela's favourite. He wanted more than ever to give Liv a big hug right now.

"Oh...I'm so sorry to hear. It must be awful. Angela Raskalov is a well-respected coach here, I didn't know you were a student of hers." He nodded towards the door. "Go spend quality time with your coach."

Liv knocked on the door and introduced herself before entering the room, Victor patiently sat on the bench right outside.

From the tiny opening from the partially closed door, Victor could hear the conversation between Liv and Angela.

"Livvy-honey! How are you doing?"

"Other than getting an extension on another project and being late on my rent this month, I'm great! How are you, Angela?"

"I'm doing fine, I guess. This chemo treatment isn't the most comfortable thing for me but I'm doing my best. Oh, are those orchids? They're lovely!"

Victor smiled upon hearing the tone of the conversation going on inside. The relationship between the coach and student seemed to be very strong. They talked about events going on in Liv's life, many of which shocked Victor.

Turns out, that Liv came from Detroit, USA to live here due Angela persuading her to switch her nationality to Russia. And ever since then, Liv's competitive career has been going up and down. Victor listened in on their conversation about the 2013 Russian Championships.

"You won silver? That's great, Liv! A real improvement from last year's fourth-place finish."

"I wish it is. But the Union didn't pick me again for the international team. It's just the same as last year."

"Did you ask why? Because this ridiculous with your second-place finish unless there's an actual good reason."

"They said it was because of your current condition, and because they've also noticed my recent financial troubles. So they were afraid that competitions will only cause me more trouble..which is half-true. But I think it's mainly because they don't like me." Liv admitted.

All kinds of thoughts flooded Victor's thoughts. In all his years of competing, he had never noticed the Skating Union being biased towards its selection of skaters nor its competition results. Perhaps it's due to his own rank among the rest of the skaters.

This was the first time he's listened to someone else's point of view on the competitive skating world. And it honestly shocked him.

A few minutes later, Liv's visiting time was up and she left the room. Victor stood up from the bench where he was sitting upon and they exited the hospital together. Liv gave him the directions for her home address before they drove out of the parking lot.

The majority of the car ride was done in silence. Finally, at one of the traffic lights, Victor broke the silence.

"Are you going to compete in the 2014 Nationals?" He asked.

"Depends," Liv sighed.

"On what?"

"How I'm going to survive this country."

More silence. The light turned green. Victor continued to drive until they reached a little suburban neighbourhood with a few large apartment buildings and a small environmental park nearby. Liv directed him towards a simple red-brick building with no balconies and large windows.

She picked up her items and prepared to open the door. "Thanks for the ride. I owe you one. I'll try to not have this happen again."

"Olivia, where are you going to practice when the weather gets warmer?" Victor asked. "We should plan ahead of time."

"I got it covered already. The owner of the outdoor rink also has an indoor one just down the trail from the parking lot beside the outdoor rink. Price is about the same, the only problem is limited time for private ice times. I can only go on Thursday and Saturday afternoons—and they're from around four to six." Liv explained.

Victor nodded. "Great! Off-season is a great time to work on and prepare new skills." He paused for a moment. "I'd like it if you continued to compete."

Liv smiled weakly, she didn't counter back with a complaint. "I'll see you later."

* * *

 _Saturday. April. 13, 2013._

"Like this: really bend the knee before the takeoff and really use the arms to help with the lift." Victor demonstrated the preparation and takeoff for the lutz.

Liv watched closely on the ice, placing her hands on her knees to get a better view. They were the only two inside of the warehouse-like ice arena. Victor rarely gets this much ice space to himself other than the super-early morning practices Yakov forces him to go to every now and then.

Liv nodded and began building up speed for the lutz once again. She did a series of crossovers before going into the long outside edge glide. This time, she bent deeper in the knee and brought her right arm back more.

Launching herself into the air, Liv pulled into the backspin position as soon as possible and rotated for three revolutions before landing on the right back outside edge.

Victor tilted his head to the side. The second jump was a bit higher than her first one, but not by a lot. Liv's strength wasn't in her jumps, but despite that, her consistency was still rather high.

Her jumps weren't small but they weren't enormous either. To Victor, it's a miracle that she could fit in three whole revolutions at that height! The fact that she's able to was due to her rapid rotations while in the air. That made up for her lack of height.

"That's better than before, but I think we can get it higher. I don't know, what did Angela have you do before?"

"She wanted me to incorporate more difficult jump combinations like triple lutz/triple toe. But after the 2011 European Championships, we realized that I kept on getting deducted for underrotations with those jumps. So I made my programs safer for the 2011-12 season and well, I got scored exactly the same as before, only this time without underrotation calls. So in a way, it's better."

Victor shook his head in dejection. It was sad to see how badly Liv was being treated in the competitive world. He hates it when people can't appreciate something that is always looked down upon.

For the rest of the afternoon, they worked on fixing the ice coverage of Liv's jumps and different patterns of choreographic sequences and transitions. It wasn't until the end of the day that Victor realized Liv hasn't even started on creating new programs for the 2014 season.

They took a break in between to get some water and food. Victor asked about her home back in the USA.

"Detroit is great. I loved it there. Ugh! It's just—a really great city. Now it's not as flashy as someplace like, New York, for example. But it's not like a super small country area either. I don't know, I'm just speaking from my life growing up."

"Sounds interesting. You still keeping touch with your family and friends?"

"Yeah. I...really miss them. My parents and siblings, they were really worried for me when I decided to move with Angela to Russia. And now, I'm starting to worry for myself. Things just aren't looking up...for me and for Angela...I know that she's not getting any better. I'm scared."

Victor looked down at Liv's face. It had the expression of a lost puppy who had no idea which way was home.

"Let's call it a day. You have a lot of homework from your professors, right? I don't want to hinder you."

"Sure, ok. Thanks."

* * *

Liv's car had broken down sometime last week and Victor had to once again give her a ride between her home and the rink. She managed to get bus tickets to get to campus each day.

Victor parked in an empty space in front of Liv's building. He helped carry some of her items inside for her. She already had a stack of textbooks and a full backpack, combining it with a large skating bag was overkill for Victor to watch.

"My apartment is this one." Liv stopped in front of a door at the end of the hallway and unlocked it.

She turned on the lights and immediately, Victor saw the large assortment of suitcases piled in the living room. "Whoa. What's with all those suitcases?"

"Umm. I'm just packing things up, makes it easier to move out. You know? Nothing to worry about. Here, I'll take the skating bag, thank you."

Victor did not let it up. "Move to where? It looks like you're going on vacation or something."

Liv sighed and fiddled with her fingers before answering. "Back to America. I've been seriously considering going back for awhile now, and well, with Angela's worsening condition...there isn't much of a future for me here. I'll rejoin the USFSA again."

Victor felt his pulse suddenly speed up. This can't be happening. If Liv leaves, it means that the Russia Skating Union pushed her away. It would mean that they lost something that never truly saw as valuable. He had to do something.

"So you're just giving up? What about college? Aren't you planning to finish your degree here?"

"I can continue back in Detroit. Besides, like I said, there isn't much of a future for me here. I'm not even going to sugarcoat it Victor, but I've heard what other skater, coaches, and commentators had called me here." Liv clutched her arms as she repeated those exact words, in Russian. _"'Why the hell is a foreigner competing for us?'"_

Victor was taken back. Was this the reality of figure skating? All of those stories he often hears that talks about biased scoring and selection, prejudice and gossip. He realized just now, they were true.

"Olivia...I...I can't speak for everyone involved in the Union, but there will be people—even if it's just a little bit—who will be disappointed by your leaving. For example, Angela."

"Angela already knows about this. She said that she's supporting me no matter what decision I'm making. So that's that. I have another coach down at the Detroit Figure Skating Club, he'll be glad to have me as a student."

"What if Angela gets better? The chances may be small, but what if, Olivia? What if? Do you think you'll be able to face her again after your departure?"

"I miss my family, Victor! It's not just skating that's pushing me out of this country, but I'm truly homesick by now! Even if Angela gets better, I'll still want to go home, like a normal person! And I doubt she's going to recover anytime soon."

Liv slowed down her speech a bit. "So until then, I have no coach. And no coach equals to no season." She turned around to put her textbooks away.

Making up his mind, Victor exhaled and took a step forward.

"I'll be your coach."

The textbooks fell from Liv's arms and onto the floor. She turned around slowly, her eyes wide with shock and mouth slightly agape. Victor repeated himself. "I'll be your coach."

"But...why?" Liv asked.

Victor walked closer. "You have something many skaters don't. And I'm not talking about your way of jumping or the power of your strokes or your ability to spin in both directions.

"I'm talking about your presence. When you're on the ice, you don't skate. You create. I remember you saying that you like art. You take digital media at Leora, I see several papers out on the table behind labeled 'story ideas,' I see a digital piano at the end of the living room, and I see an underrated skater in front of me.

"Coaches are meant to use the blocks that make up their student and create something stronger, something better. That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to have you paint over the blank canvases the judges always look at. Angela will always be your coach, I can't ever replace her, but at least let me support you, Liv."

Liv put her hands against her face, hiding her current expression. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You're going to help me, Victor? Really?" She looked up.

Victor smiled and nodded.

Liv pulled herself together and stuck out her hand, smiling gently. Victor shook it, confirming their new status. "First thing's first, you're going to need a new program for the 2014 Nationals."

* * *

 **Finishing this chapter ten fifty-five at night is not fun! But so is pushing it behind the scheduled date to post a new chapter. Well, I'm off to sleep! Please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW for any reason you want!**

 **If you know people who enjoy YOI, please share this story with them (only if you recommend it).**


	10. Let the training begin

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI. Just this fanfic.**

 **Hey, guys. From now on, if my chapters aren't being released weekly, then they'll probably be released every two weeks. This is the only way I could fit writing chapters that I'm actually proud of, and keeping things up at school. And if things get even more stressful, then chapters would probably be released monthly...**

 **Last chapter seemed to go pretty well, I hope you guys are enjoying this story!**

 **Let me know what you think in the REVIEWS! Oh and please FAVOURITE and FOLLOW if you haven't yet!**

* * *

 **Ch. 9: Let the training begin (Before YOI)**

 _One week later…_

"Bring those arms down a bit more! Yeah, perfect! Now let's see that step sequence again!" Victor commanded.

Liv skated back to starting area of the step sequence and waited for awhile before beginning the first stroke. She kept her arms a little lower than before throughout the entire sequence but kept everything else exactly the same.

That's how Victor liked it.

They've been working on creating a good choreographic base for her 2014 season short program, but haven't found the one either of them wanted yet.

Heck, Liv hasn't even decided on what kind of song she wants to skate to! But she kept on promising that she'll find one that she likes before the end of June.

Right now, Victor has already made a mental list of the top songs he plans on making his programs to. It wasn't too difficult balancing time between his own training and coaching Liv.

As Liv nears the end of the step sequence, Victor shouts, "Transition into the triple flip!"

That surprised Liv, as she was prepared to end the sequence right after the final pivot. She forced more power on her final stroke before the pivot to build up speed so the transition would work out smoothly.

Finishing the pivot, Liv skates a few crossovers on a curve and glides on the forward inside edge that leads up to the flip. Completing the three-turn, she plants her right toe pick into the ice and launches into the air.

After completing three rotations, Liv lands the jump—on the side of her rear end. She catches an edge on her landing due to under rotation and falls.

Victor sighs and presses his hand against his forehead as he skates over to Liv. She gets back up to her feet.

"You're rushing again. Don't focus so much on getting the rotations as to the height! Let's just work on the flip."

Liv rubbed the area where she fell on. "I'm trying my best, it's just hard getting more height. I've always had a problem with that."

Victor stretched his arms over his head and grunted. "If only we had that harness here, like back at my rink? I could really help you work on your jump height."

Liv scoffed. "Yeah, but that's never going to happen."

She turns around and redoes the entrance to the triple flip, this time landing the jump. She continues from her landing edge and builds up speed for another triple flip. Victor nods as she lands that one too.

He thinks about what he just said about the harness while Liv worked on the consecutive jumping exercise.

"Maybe there is a way for you to use that harness…" He thought.

* * *

 _At the St. Petersburg Ice Rink._

Victor performed his fifth triple axel in a row, albeit being a little scratchy this landing. Yakov presses the stop recording button on the camera and calls Victor to come over.

They review the video capturing Victor's consecutive triple axels, playing it back in slow motion. Yakov paused it at the takeoff of the first triple axel.

"See? Your elbows are coming up too late for the takeoff. Your free leg should swing up at the same time you bring your arms up! Lets see it again!"

Victor groaned as he skates off from the boards. His legs were killing him! This is not a good way to spend a Friday afternoon!

He performed the triple axel again...and again...and again…

And then he finally popped it.

Yakov was _furious._

Victor braced himself for the worst as he skated over to his coach. He had yet to land a triple axel that pleased Yakov. It was strange, really. The triple axel is supposed to be one of the most basic elements for him, but he's just not feeling _it_ today.

But instead of the lecture Victor had expected, Yakov lets out a low sigh and said, "enough for today. You're tired, I'm tired. Lets see something else. Do a few power circles for me."

Nodding obediently, Victor did as he was told. What a relief! It was at times like these, that Victor truly liked Yakov.

He had always respected him as someone with more experience and an almost father-figure, but he rarely saw him as someone who he could be _himself_ around naturally and just connect.

As he powered across the ice using crossovers, Victor catches sight of Yuri Plisetsky out of the corner of his eye, skating on the other side of the rink.

There weren't a lot of skaters around this afternoon, most of them are out doing resistance or flexibility training. The blond haired junior skater performed a beautiful flying broken leg sitspin. Victor smiled, he wondered how Yuri P. would do in his future competitions.

Practice was over thirty minutes later. The skaters cleared the ice as the Zamboni came from behind the large metal door. Victor stayed behind a little later to see one of the female coaches put away a mobile jumping harness in the storage room.

He then hurried up and changed out of his skates and packed up his belongings before returning to the ice rink once again. Making sure nobody was around to see him—other than the distracted Zamboni driver—Victor went inside the storage room and grabbed the harness from its shelf and ran out of the arena.

"I promise I'll return this as soon as I'm done!" He mentally reminded himself.

* * *

 _Later…_

Liv sits on the bleachers by the rinkside, her fingers typing away across her laptop's keyboard, desperately trying to finish a report.

The doors to the arena flew open as Victor entered holding a large pole-like object. Liv nearly dropped her laptop when Victor came rushing in.

"Hey! Why aren't you on the ice yet?" Victor asked breathlessly.

"I just needed to finish this write-up, that's all. I'm trying not to fall behind so much right now. And—where did you get that?" She pointed at the object Victor was carrying in one hand.

"A little something I borrowed from my rink." He said enthusiatically. "Shall we begin?"

Liv eyed him suspiciously as she closed her laptop and put it away. "By 'borrowing' do you mean with permission? Or did you just take it?"

Victor waited for awhile before coming up with a reasonable answer—or at least he thought it was one.

"Nobody'll notice, really. We've got plenty of these things to go around!"

He puts down the pole and began changing into his skates. Liv moves her backpack down the bench a little before doing the same. They both step onto the ice.

A few minutes of warm up passes by and they begin working on jumps. This time, Victor didn't demonstrate much—due to his aching legs from all those disappointing triple axels! He let Liv perform a few double axels to identify her problems.

She lands her fifth double axel, wobbling a bit on the landing. Victor skates over and straps the harness of the large pole onto Liv's upper body.

"Have Angela used this before with you?" Victor asked as he helped tighten some straps.

"Yeah. It wasn't too bad. But...are you sure you know what you're doing?" Liv asked nervously as she finished putting in the last strap.

Victor was silent. "Do you want an honest answer or an answer you want to hear?"

Liv let out a nervous laugh. "Oh no…"

"Haha. I've used this on other skaters before, but they were intermediate level skaters and I was just substituting for one of their coaches. So we're just going to have to rely on trust here. You with me, Liv?"

"I'm trusting you with this…"

Victor tugged on the rope connecting the harness to the pole he's holding. "Of course, you'll trust me with this! I'm like, the most trustworthy person there is! You won't get injured under my tutelage!"

Liv begins skating backward crossovers to go into the double axel. Victor skates at a good speed next to her. She prepares the takeoff and steps onto the forward outside edge.

Just as she does that, Victor realizes that her technique of jumping was very different than the intermediate skaters he had used the harness on before. His eyes grew wide as he cries out, "WAIT!"

Too late. Liv already left the ice, and upon hearing him shout, opens up immediately midair and comes crashing down onto the ice.

 _Five minutes later…_

Liv sat on the bleachers, holding an ice pack against her lower back. Victor stood nearby, holding more ice packs, and looking slightly guilty. Liv groaned as she removes her ice pack.

"'Won't get injured under your tutelage?' Hm?"

Victor nervously laughed. "Well, it could've been worse." He sighed. "Sorry, you're right. This is my fault."

Liv gently stood up and threw the used ice pack in the nearby trash can. Victor cautiously asked, "Still trust me?"

The arena breeze died down. It was so quiet, a leaf could be dropped and heard. Liv finally turned around and raised a single finger, symbolizing one more try.

They head back onto the ice and strapped on the harness, this time more tentatively. Liv began building up speed for the double axel once again and Victor kept a more careful eye on her movements as he held onto the pole with hold hands.

Liv goes from her preparation edge to her takeoff edge and bends deeply on her left knee.

As soon as she swings her free leg up and both skates left the ice, Victor hauled against the pole which caused the rope attached to Liv's harness to pull her up a few centimeters.

With the slightly increased elevation, Liv rotates at her normal speed whilst in the air. She lands the jump—after completing _three and a quarter_ rotations—on two feet. Victor's jaw dropped.

Liv felt her own jaw drop as well as she regained her balance.

"Did you know what you just did?" Victor asked incredulously.

"I—I—"

"You almost landed a triple axel. A _triple_ axel, Liv! Omigosh, if we can increase your height by the time the competitive season starts, you can incorporate the most difficult jump in ladies' figure skating!" Victor exclaimed excitedly.

Liv smiled at the thought of that. But then frowned as reality struck back at her.

"That's not going to happen. Let's just focus on my other triple jumps. But I have to admit, you're actually not too bad with this harness thing."

Victor's high hopes sank to rock bottom but quickly brightened once again after hearing her compliment. "But how come? Do you know how useful a triple axel would be? And by the way, thank you. I was pretty good with the harness, no?"

"Yeah. A _clean_ triple axel would be useful under my belt." Liv fixed her leggings around the boots of her skates. "Can we work on the triple flip, maybe?"

Victor shrugged. "Why not?"

The rest of the afternoon was spent working on landing clean triple flip/triple toe combinations and adding variations to various other jumps such as the triple salchow and double loop at the end of a triple/double/double combination.

They finished practice with a cool down and prepared to leave the arena. Victor waited for Liv to grab all of her belongings before exiting. On the way out, he asked her.

"Liv, is domestic competition here tough for you?"

"No. Not tough. It's a freakin' bloodbath! Every sectionals and Nationals I've been to, the skaters all have this terrifyingly competitive aura about them. And sometimes, it gets more than that! Like it feels threatening! Maybe it's just me, and nobody else feels this. I bet you don't."

"Mmmm...sometimes I do. But I'd like to hear your point of view. Is it scary performing under those circumstances?"

"Hell, yeah! Another reason why people dislike me: I'm consistent under pressure. Just the way I am. I just...perform...that's it. I try and get myself lost in my own program so I would forget about the whole thing! And it works…"

Victor nodded. "Damn. Well, at least whenever you manage to get past all this domestic competition, the ISU judges can actually give you the scores you deserve!"

"Actually, ISU events aren't any better…" Liv muttered. "My scores are always so...uneven from the judges. Like some of them are giving pretty good scores, and then some are giving me scores that even Angela says are ridiculously low."

Victor was in disbelief. No matter where Liv went to, she always seemed to be given this kind of treatment. It ain't easy dealing with this, Victor can only imagine how awful it must be to receive scores that are not based on merit alone.

And the fact that Liv had gone through this for how many years? He did not know—but he knows that something can be done about it.

* * *

 _A few days later…_

"Are you sure we have another harness?" One of the coaches at the St. Petersburg ice rink asked.

Yakov scratched his head as he looked inside the storage room too. "That's strange, I was for sure there was another one. Maybe age is catching up to me?"

Out on the ice by the boards, Victor nervously drank his water. He had yet to return the harness he borrowed. Currently, it is sitting in his closet at his apartment, waiting to be remembered to be taken along with every morning.

Yakov and the other coach stopped looking and returned to the ice. Yakov shook his head at Mila, whom he is currently giving lessons to. She shrugged her shoulders when he admitted that there were no more harnesses available currently.

Victor skated to the far end of the rink to work on his moves in private and away from the darting eyes of Yakov.

He works on transitions between a couple of his best jumps. It was much easier landing them without having anybody watching and judging his every move. Or at least he thought nobody was…

Victor sees Yuri. P starring in his direction after he lands a quadruple salchow/half loop/triple salchow. The junior skater looked away and turned red. Victor smiled upon seeing that.

"Like what you see?" He asked.

"Meh. Anyone could do that, with the right conditioning and technique. I guess it's alright." Yuri. P crossed his arms.

Victor raised a brow at the preteen's arrogance. "Oh? You're forgetting something."

He pointed to his own head. "You need to the right mindset too."

Victor turned around and skated away. Later that morning, Yakov began his lessons with Victor as well. This time, Victor's performance was better than what happened last time. Yakov actually smiled.

"Nice job, today. Much cleaner jumps. Work on your spins and field moves before the lunch break." Yakov said before leaving him be.

Victor embraced Yakov in a tight hug. "Thank you, Yakov! You're the best! I love you forever!"

Yakov pushed Victor off of him. "Keep saying that and I'll make you do laps on the ice!"

Victor immediately lets go and went off. Yakov sighed before skating over to Georgi waiting for his lessons on the other end of the rink.

* * *

 _At the local food corner_

Victor sat with several of his rink mates at the large outdoor table. Lunch break was always the best time of the day in his opinion. Great time to socialize and enjoy life off the ice.

Some of the female skaters were mingling and whispering about stuff that Victor is curious to know. He places his lunch down and throws an arm around Georgi, who is sitting next to him.

"What's up lately? How are things with Anya? Mm?" Victor pressed.

"Oh! It's just so confusing! I know 100% my feelings for her, but she's always making me guess about how she feels towards _me_!" Georgi complained.

Another male skater, Max Noda, joins in. "If you ask me, I'd say it's because you're explicit with your feelings."

Georgi became defensive. "Is there anything wrong with showing the world our beautiful bond?"

"No, but there is a problem if you keep on posting those photos of you and her outside of the tea shop every second of the day," female skater, Annie Vasin replied.

"It's her favourite place! Where else do you suggest I take her?" Georgi demanded.

"How about _your_ favourite place?" Constantine Cohen suggested. "I think she's sick of being spoiled all the goddamn time."

"Don't women usually _like_ being spoiled?" Georgi asked.

Mila and Laurel Kopeykin giggled over at their table. Laurel brought a hand delicately to her cheek. "So sorry, dear Georgi. We _women_ can be very difficult to guess sometimes."

Victor brought his shoulder up in a shrug. "So why would you even go for women? If they're so difficult?"

Max smirked. "Oh. So I'm assuming you swing the other way?"

Victor smirked back. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Who knows? Men can be just as difficult and confusing anyways."

Several of the skaters nearby looked up at Victor with wide eyes and stopped eating. Victor didn't mind. He liked keeping them guessing, though to be honest, he had always felt a strong attraction towards people of his own gender than the opposite gender. Max had always been an apple of his eye for a long time.

So why does Liv seem special amongst the people of the opposite gender?

Just as Liv popped up in his mind, Annie brought out a topic somewhat related to what Victor was thinking of.

"Have you guys heard about coach Angela Raskalov? Apparently, she has breast cancer!"

"Really? Omigosh, that's terrible!"

"She has a lot of students, what's going to happen to them?"

"Some of them are switching to other substitute coaches and some are taking the next season off," Annie explained.

" _And one is being trained in secret by me."_ Thought Victor.

Yuri. P appeared around the corner, carrying his lunch with him. He looked slightly overwhelmed when he saw most the tables already filled.

Constantine waved him over to his empty table. "Hey, kiddo! Over here!"

Yuri. P sat down next to the older guy. Mila and Laurel quietly fawned over how adorable the preteen is. Constantine started a nice friendly conversation about how things are going here at the rink.

Yuri. P nodded, shook his head, and even smiled at some of the questions Constantine asked.

Victor got up to sit at the other empty seat at their table, right in front of Yuri P.

"So, how do you think of Yakov so far—"

 _DraLaRing!_

Victor's phone came on with a text notification. "Hang on a minute."

Swiping across the message, Victor sees Liv's name and number tagged with the text. Curiosity filled him. What did she want this time?

The text displayed the preview of some kind of sheet music. Victor's face went pale after seeing the layout of the notes. Here...and there...some have so many lines they couldn't even render properly!

He nearly dropped his phone. It was a good thing he caught it, because the second later, another text was sent.

 _Liv: whoops. My bad. Wrong file. Hang on a minute_

The dots came on screen as she prepared to send the correct message to him. Victor didn't notice Max sneaking up behind him and peeping over his shoulder.

"So who's that you're texting?" He asked. "O-via?" Max squinted his eyes as Victor immediately covered the screen.

He pushed Max's face out of the way playfully. "None of your business, peeping Tom."

"Seriously? I accidentally walk in on Mila changing _once_ in the locker room and I'm forever plastered with that title?"

Mila gawked at him. " _Once?_ Please, let's not get into that argument again. And just admit that you're in desperate need to get laid."

Laurel slapped her on the shoulder. "Mila! We have a little one here!" She gestured to Yuri. P, who seemed to be getting a little red.

Victor nodded in agreement as he received the sent file from Liv. It showed a preview of a written report. He clicked on it, opening up the link that took him to another app that allowed him to read documents.

Another text was sent.

 _Liv: this is my paper on mechanics of motion-capture and its impacts on today's society. Can you please read it over and tell me if I should fix anything? ;)_

Victor skimmed over the first few pages of the report and desperately tried to understand it. To be honest, he was never a try-hard in his classes. So this report Liv made already looked perfect to him.

But she's probably going to want some feedback at least. He was about to send her a text saying that he'll read it over later when Max regained his position of peeping onto his phone.

"So is this a _very_ good friend of yours?" He asked.

Victor attempted to push him back again, but Max caught his hand this time. "Why are you so sensitive about it? Aha! So it _is_ a fangirl!"

Annie jumped into the conversation. "Ohh...getting a little desperate here, yourself? Eh, Victor?"

The phone was shoved into Max's face. "What kind of fangirl would send me her entire college class report for me to proofread? Hm?"

Constantine made a shocked face. "A stupid one, I'd say. You're the last person I'd trust with _anything_ that has to do with school. How long has she known you for? 'Cause I'd doubt she'd do this if she knows about your educational life."

Victor took several deep breaths to clear things up. "First of all, I'll have you know that I graduated as in the top eight of the best students in the program! And second of all, it's not a fangirl, it's a friendgirl."

Georgi brought his hand down against the table. It silenced everyone present. He looked at Victor in the eye, with a gaze as fierce as if he could shoot laser beams from his pupils.

" _Friendgirl?_ Do you have any idea how lucky you are that she isn't here right now? Do you?" Georgi asked.

Before Victor could answer, Georgi continued talking. "To say a girl is a _friendgirl_ is the worst possible thing that could ever happen to any girl! How would you like it if Max called you a friendboy right now?"

Victor glanced at Max, who quickly waved his hands to show he does not want to be included in this topic. "Whoa, whoa, hold on there! I don't swing that way!"

Although Victor didn't show it, he felt a slight pang inside of him when Max said that he didn't 'swing that way,' with a tone of offensiveness. As if 'swinging that way' was wrong.

Victor tried to give a reasonable answer. "Georgi, I literally met her two months ago. Of course, I'd call her a friend. Actually, I'm more like a 'Good Samaritan' to her, when she needed help in her lowest moments."

"The Good Samaritan took the injured man home on a donkey, Victor. What are you doing for her?" Max asked.

Victor blinked. There is no way he's telling the truth. What if Yakov found out? He'd be all in his face telling him 'you're not qualified to coach!' Or 'you're only hindering yourself! What about _your_ competitive life?' Or perhaps something more like 'you ain't coaching her just because. You're in it for the ulterior motives.'

"That's none of your business. Let's just clarify some things. Max, this _is_ a friend—a rather new one. Annie, I'm _not_ desperate for anything! And Georgi—for the love of God, stop trying to push your ideals onto other people! That's it! The end!"

With that, Victor dropped his cell phone on the table to silence any potential complaints.

Finally, Max mumbled. "Is she Vietnamese? I saw the last name, sounds Vietnamese. You should really ask her—"

Victor stuck his middle finger up in Max's face.

* * *

 _A week later…_

It was a Tuesday morning, and Victor had a day off from practice today. He immediately scheduled with Liv to arrange a meeting at the arena early morning. They worked on Liv's jump height, but she kept on falling every time she tried to increase it.

It was getting to the point where Liv was about to lose it. Victor could see the annoyance steaming off of her and called it all for now.

They took a breather and Liv immediately went to her phone inside of her backpack. Victor grabbed his water bottle and looked over in her direction, just in time to see her face change from plain to wide-eyed shock.

Liv shoved her phone up in his face. A document with a short message and link attached to it was displayed on the screen. Victor was confused.

Liv tilted her head. "Do you know what this is?" She asked.

"Uhh….an email?"

"Yes. And look at the last paragraph of it." Liv scrolled down and zoomed in. The words 'Overall mark: 74%' was shown.

Victor didn't see her point. "So?"

"So!? I sent you that report for you to proofread it! And you said that there wasn't anything wrong! I thought you already got your college degree! Well, there goes my average!"

"Well, technically there wasn't anything _wrong_ with your report...just maybe...your professor marks a little too hard?" Victor suggested. "And what kind of teacher emails the students their marks?"

"Mine," Liv answered. She sat down and buried her face in her hands. "This semester just keeps getting worse and worse."

Victor attempted to reach out to her shoulder but held back. She probably wouldn't want to be touched as of this moment. So he sat down beside her.

"What do you want that would make you happy again?" Victor asked.

"I don't know. I just want a...normal morning, I guess. I'm sorry if I'm being a burden to you."

Victor shook his head. "I want to help. Like I said back then when I proposed to be your coach. I'm here to help."

When Liv didn't answer immediately, Victor began undoing his skates and then packed up his bag before standing up. This time, Liv was the one who's confused.

"Wha—what are—"

"Come on, let's go. Pack up your stuff and come with me. Hurry up." Victor commanded.

Liv did as she was told, but was still unsure as to what Victor had in mind. Once she got all of her stuff, Victor led the way out of the arena and towards the parking lot.

They drove down to the waterfront area of the city, where Victor stopped at a morning coffee shop. He took Liv inside, who at this time, still had her entire backpack with her, due to fear of leaving her precious textbooks where they may get stolen.

Victor sat down at an empty booth by the window and Liv did the same, setting her bag down on the ground beneath the table. He took out a wallet.

"What do you want?"

"Oh no, it's alright, I can pay for myself."

"Didn't you say that you're already struggling financially? Don't make this hard on yourself, what do you want?"

Liv took a look at the menu at the top of the display board behind the cash registers.

"Uhh, cappuccino...medium. What about you?"

Victor stood up and went to the lineup. "I got myself covered. Don't sweat it. Just relax, ok?"

He returned a minute later with two drinks and a box of doughnuts. He placed Liv's drink down in front of her before taking a seat. She thanked him before warming her hands around the sides of the paper cup.

"You never been to these places before?" Victor asked curiously.

"Not really. I never really give myself the time of day to go out and sightsee, despite all of my friends and family telling me how nice of a city St. Petersburg is, and begging me to send them pictures!"

"Well, it's never too late to start now. What do you say? You got time before your class starts, right?"

Liv quickly checked her phone's schedule before nodding. "Right."

They finished resting up at the coffee shop and went back outside onto the streets. It was still partly early in the morning, there wasn't a lot of people on the streets, but there were a few cars already on the road and bikers down the side of their lane.

Liv wanted to save some doughnuts for later, so she stuffed a few into her paper bag for lunch as they walked about the streets. Victor walked a few centimeters in front, showing off the buildings they pass by.

"See that over there? That's a store where you can donate old clothes and books to."

"That's a department store for jewelry, my mother used to go there very often. Oh, and that over there, is the greatest all you can eat buffet I've been to. I—you have to go there one day."

Liv smiled as Victor pranced about, dragging her here and there and everywhere. They went to a new store that sold funny-looking hats and tried on some. Then to a pet store where Victor bought a new red dog-sized sweater.

They explored a whole lot of places Liv had never been to, before finally stopping in front of the large street that had the great view of the lake. It was almost time to leave, but Liv decides to spare a couple more minutes, to Victor's delight.

He stood at the front of the railing, separating the street from the waterbody. Looking out into the distance, he breathed in the cool morning breeze and sighed. It had been a long time since he felt this free as well.

Turning around, Victor saw Liv sitting down on the bench with a large paper pad on her lap. Her hands were busy maneuvering a pencil around, creating something on the paper. He walked up to her and peeked over.

A rough, but amazingly realistic, pencil sketch of the entire street from her point of view was displayed on her paper. Victor whistled. "How long have you been drawing for?"

"What do you mean? How long it took me to make this, or how long it had been since I started drawing?"

"The latter."

"Umm, for quite awhile actually. I started when I was really young. It felt really natural to me, my mom was an artist herself. She also loves to do photography and graphic design. My dad is an English professor and a creative writer. He also plays piano, trombone, and the cello! Yep, art runs in the family."

"But you're the first one to pursue something like skating." Victor pointed out.

"Yeah...I guess what got me into it, was how lyrical everything looked like on ice. It was...like painting with knife shoes!" Liv cringed. "I know, bad comparison."

Victor laughed. "Well, I'm glad that you pursued skating. Even though it brought you a lot of hardships. The ISU wouldn't have seen what skating used to be. It's a sport, I get it, but it's also an art. And not many people express it."

Liv added the final touches of shading to her sketch before closing the paper pad and putting away her utensils. She stuffed everything inside of her backpack and hoisted it onto her shoulders, still sitting on the bench.

"I'm glad too. It's been a bumpy ride down this skating path, but it was worth it. I learned so much from all my past experience, I went to new places, I met lots of people."

Victor leaned on his arms against the back of the bench, looking out to the waterbody.

"Liv...are you Vietnamese?"

"What!?" Liv exclaimed in shock.

"You're not?"

"No! I'm Cambodian! Can't you tell?"

Victor went pokerfaced. No, he could not tell. Cambodian? He has never seen a person of that race in his entire life, and even if he did, he's pretty sure that Liv looked nothing like that race. Or maybe he's just bad at guessing races.

Liv shrugged. "Well, now you know. Why ask so suddenly, though? Running out of conversation ideas?"

Victor didn't answer her question and instead posed his own. A question he's been wanting to ask for quite some time.

"Liv...what am I to you?"

That got Liv's head turning around. Her mouth slowly opened to say something, but Victor didn't see it.

"Am I a someone you would call a 'friend'...boy?'" Victor prepared for a slap in the face and a long rant about how 'insensitive' it is to be even suggest something like that.

But none of that happened. Instead, Liv stood up and faced Victor, who stood up as well. Her head firmly held and her eyes making direct contact with his.

She pursed her lips before answering. "You're the greatest thing that's happened to me here. Other than Angela, of course. But honestly, what you've done for me in the past two months has been more than I could take in. And not just skating, but life in general here. What you did for me today. I just—I...all I want to say is thank you."

Liv smiled brightly. "Thank you for turning around and taking a look back to help me back to my feet again. I know it sounds cheesy, but that's how I feel."

Victor felt a large smile gradually growing on his face. Joy filled up inside of him.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and slowly let out a sigh.

"You're welcome, Liv. And also...I don't mind spending more time like this with you. Like, today. Let's spend more enjoyable times like this together."

"Sure. Why not." Liv agreed.

* * *

 **I'm SO SO SO SORRY if there's any grammar or spelling errors in here! (I'm really tired and I can't edit properly). If I find anything when reading this over, I'll try to fix it as soon as possible.**

 **So in the meantime, please REVIEW, FAVOURITE, and FOLLOW! And share this with people who probably like YOI fanfic!**

 **Thanks! :D**


	11. How hard is it to pick a song?

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **My March break just started and I'm not enjoying it at all! I wish I could, really, but how could you enjoy a March break when teachers decide to give you homework and a project that's due the week when you return? And to top it all off, I'm sick with a stuffy nose, bad cough, and a bad bad bad headache!**

 **I swear! School holidays nowadays are just excuses for teachers to hand out extra work! They're not 'breaks!' They're 'study time!' I wanna real break!**

 **So I decided to hurry up and finish this chapter so I could focus on my schoolwork for the rest of the week. I originally planned to have this released a little later, but I knew that it would never get released if I kept on pushing this down the schedule so this is better than nothing. (I hope...)**

 **Anyways, thanks for much for your lovely reviews on the last chapter! From here on, please ask any questions you have about this story in the reviews or via private message.**

 **I'll see if I can answer them without giving too much away in the next chapter and the chapters to come!**

 **Please enjoy.**

* * *

 **Ch. 10: How hard is it to pick a song? (Before YOI)**

 _Wednesday. May. 15, 2013. Victor's apartment._

Victor opened the door wide and Makkachin immediately pranced over to greet him. "Hey, boy! Missed me?"

Makkachin barked in reply. Victor began removing his exterior clothing and threw his skating bag in the corner of the front hallway where he always kept it. Turning more lights on, he made his way down to the kitchen for a quick snack before heading to his bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes.

He slumps on the bed right after changing with Makkachin cuddling around his abdomen. Victor turns the tv on and clicks on several different channels as usual.

He never really watches anything, it's just a habit of his to look through the channels in case of something interesting and worthwhile. But there usually isn't.

And that's why he always has his phone nearby. After skating practice when he gets home, is his time for freedom. Being lazy, filling up on the food and drinks Yakov always forbids him from consuming, and of course, checking missed calls and messages.

His heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw some texts from Max Noda appear on his screen. They weren't anything too special, just messages asking about how his personal life is going and more questions about the _friendgirl_ he was texting that day during lunch break.

Speaking of _friendgirl_ , Liv also began to text more often and in a less formal tone. Victor always felt a smile grow on his face whenever he sees Liv's messages.

She's finally starting to open up more to him as a good friend. Personally, Victor is unsure of what his own feelings on Liv are. He thought that when he asked her what he is to her, he would finally get a clear view of his feelings.

But it didn't work. Liv called him "the greatest thing that's happened to her." So did that mean she only sees him as a superior and not a peer? But if she did, then she wouldn't be opening up to him just recently.

It was always during these times that Victor wished that he had some kind of female guide in his life.

Someone like a sister, cousin, or even a female family friend who could help him understand the world of women. His own mother wasn't too much of a help when it came to these topics.

"Oh, just find a nice girl who has a good heart and a good family. She'll take care of you. Make sure she's around your age, ok? I know that you don't think a lot before you go into something, and I don't want my son to have a wife who's 5 years older or younger than him!" His mother would always say.

Victor rolled his eyes at that memory before getting off his bed and stumbled to the kitchen, where he checked the fridge for any leftovers to heat up for dinner. Surprisingly, there was a lot more than he expected.

More than enough for him to share…

Without thinking he picked out some of the most delectable looking plates and turned the stove on, boiling some water.

It took a few minutes before Victor got the leftovers all heated up and packed in several little containers. He wrapped them up with a little string before stuffing them into a large fabric bag.

Walking out to the foyer with the bag, Victor put on his jacket and shoes as Makkachin barked after him.

"Want to come along too?" Victor asked. Makkachin nodded. "Alright, it's time for you to meet a new friend, boy."

Grabbing his keys and the bag of food containers, Victor turned the lights off in his apartment and went out the door.

* * *

 _At the grocery store_.

Liv desperately searched through her wallet for more change. The cashier looked at her expectantly while the other customers in line behind her sighed.

That did not make her feel any better. Liv did not pay attention to the activity of her debit card over the past few weeks and as a result, failed to check her mail for her new debit card due to this old one expiring.

She was short on cash. The cashier managed to offer some advice when she saw the look of desperation on Liv's face.

" _Listen, I'll let you choose whichever items you need the most that you can afford and you can take one item for free." (I'm not Google Translating anything, so these italics means they're not speaking in English.)_

" _Really? You're allowed to do that?"_ Liv asked incredulously.

" _Manager allows it. Part of store policy when it comes to situations like this. Gives us a good name and reputation."_ The cashier explained.

Liv began picking out the items she finds to be the most essential for this week while leaving the rest. But she realizes that even with the cash in her wallet, she wasn't able to afford all of the essentials.

Liv cuts them down in half once more and chose the box of microwaveable food to be her one free item. The cashier checked out her items before she put them all into her own reusable shopping bag.

Walking to her car in the parking lot, Liv sighed as she felt the lightness of her groceries. Was she really going to be able to get through the week with only tv sized meals?

The last thing she wanted was to ask Angela's family for some support, even though Angela would probably be ok with that. Unlocking her car and putting her items in the seat next to her, Liv drove back to her apartment.

The sky was turning a deep orange colour when she got to the front lobby of her building with her bag of groceries. She went up the elevator feeling stressed and tired. She wanted nothing more than to just take a shower and get this semester over with…

Liv's eyes widened as she saw the person at the end of the hallway when she stepped out of the elevator. A large brown dog was standing next to him, but other than that, Liv knew who it was.

Victor turned around when he heard the doors to the elevator open. He smiled and waved cheerfully upon seeing the person he was planning on seeing.

"Hey, Liv!"

* * *

Liv unlocked the door to her apartment and desperately tried to clean everything up. Throwing pieces of paper into her garbage can, stuffing all of her textbooks and utensils into one drawer and straightening all of her furniture.

Victor decided to let her do what she needs and gives her some space as he and Makkachin paced around the simple apartment complex.

"Sorry for the mess! I skipped a few days of cleaning this week! So sorry!" Liv cried as she picked up piles of thrown clothes into a laundry basket.

Victor shook his head as he kept his eyes glued on several little photos kept on the door of the refrigerator.

"No need to rush. I came over without any warning." He looked at the photo in the middle of the fridge. It displayed a large group of people enjoying themselves in a downtown.

"Is this your family?" Victor asked as Liv ran into the kitchen to wash her hands over the sink.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah! That was taken the last year before I left America! The summer of my grade 12 graduation." Liv pranced up to the fridge, pointing at each person in the photo.

"Parents over there, those two are my brothers. Rudy and Sam, they're five and four years older, they're already married and have families and jobs and stuff…"

"So you're an aunt?" Victor asked.

"Mmhmm. I only got to see few of my nieces and nephews on video chat but they're so darn adorable!"

Liv continues naming. "That's my younger sister, Mikayla, she's still in high school. She's a...bit arrogant, but I tolerate her."

Victor looked at the happy family in the photo. There was a large museum in the background. Coming from a small family, Victor doesn't know the strength of sibling bonds. He used to envy his rinkmates who had siblings, despite the countless times they told him that siblings are practically demons.

"Did you want to leave America?" Victor asked suddenly.

Liv brought in her groceries and set them on the small counter. She thought for awhile. "It was a hard decision. I didn't want to leave. But I was also in high school at that time and kind of had my head up in the clouds and thought that I could really become big here if I moved with Angela."

"Were you big back in America?"

"Sort of. You could say it's beginner's luck. I won a Junior Grand Prix Final and two Junior World titles and won my first Grand Prix Final in the senior division. And also claimed the National title that season too! I never placed lower than third when I was representing America."

"You'll make it big here too, you just need a little push." Victor encouraged. Makkachin went over to the counter where Liv had set down her groceries, sniffing through the bag for anything edible.

"Oh, Makkachin! You can't hold it in any longer?" Victor went over to his dog and gently lead him away from the counter, a soft whinny was heard as Makkachin turned in the opposite direction.

Liv felt slightly guilty. She opened the fridge and looked through piles of wrapped up leftovers, half-empty cans and boxes, and barely-filled up containers of vegetables.

"I'm sorry, he must be hungry. I don't have much to offer right now. I can't really make anything that'll fill."

Victor waved his hands. "No, no, it's alright. That's why I came over in the first place. Here."

He leads Liv out of the kitchen and towards the living room where the small rectangular table stood in the corner of the room. Victor commanded Makkachin to bring over his large fabric bag, and he obeyed, picking up the straps with this mouth and placing the contents before Victor.

Taking out the items, Victor laid out the individual plastic containers of leftovers he heated up from his home. He carefully put them out in an organized array on the table. Makkachin eagerly looked at the food, his tail wagging with enthusiasm.

Liv was speechless when Victor took out the containers from the bag and placed them on the table. Her eyes fixated on the individual boxes of food—real food—that she hasn't had in a long time.

Victor gestured to his array. "I, uh, had a little too much in my fridge and thought it might be nice to share." He looked at Liv, who wasn't responding at all. "Liv?"

Upon hearing her name, Liv's lip began to quiver, her vision became hazy as tears welled up in her eyes. A soft voice crack escaped from her throat as her tears finally spilled. Victor took a step back in shock as Liv wiped her eyes with her sleeves.

Makkachin stopped wagging his tail and curiously walked up to the crying woman, tilting his head at what had caused her to feel so sad. Or glad. Liv couldn't stop crying, she continued to wipe her eyes and attempted to collect herself.

"I'm sorry, it's just—I've never—this place—it feels like a real home now…it's the first time I've felt this way..." Liv broke down.

Makkachin whinnied softly, and sat down in front of Liv, staring up at her with his big curious eyes. Victor sighed in relief, at least she wasn't crying because she was upset or anything, but now...he has no idea what to do. He was never good in dealing with crying people. Was he supposed to grab them a kleenex box or a mug of hot water or something?

Or was it different for crying females? What would they usually want? A bouquet of flowers or maybe ice cream? He was absolutely clueless. So he did the first thing his instincts instructed him to do. This time, without holding back.

Victor reached his arms out and wrapped them around Liv's shoulders, pulling her in. She continued to cry, and he was able to feel every shiver and vibration coming from her body. He did not let go, he did not tighten nor loosen the embrace, he just held her there.

Like any coach—and good friend—would do.

* * *

 _Thursday. May. 30, 2013. St. Petersburg Ice Rink._

Victor stood in the middle of the rink, waiting for his music to come on. Well, it wasn't really his music, just something that he found and liked, and wanted to try it out in performance. Something called _Requiem for a Tower._

It was a dark sounding epic song, that gave Victor chills whenever he hears it. Just like now when the first note plays out from the speakers in the rink. Victor started off his trial short program for the 2014 season with a violent jolt before going into his opening step sequence.

He kept his arms and elbows tight and his hands balled into fists throughout the turns and pivots until he begins to build up speed via backward crossovers into his first jump, the triple axel. He slightly pre-rotated on the takeoff but was able to hold himself together midair. However, it did not fly by with an examining Yakov standing by and watching.

Victor transitions with powerful choppy strokes into his next jump, his signature quadruple flip, which he lands with ease. His favourite part of the music comes up immediately afterward and his heart races as he goes into his back camel with a change foot spin.

Yakov looks on closely at Victor's skating. There wasn't anything too off, but there was definitely something—a microscopic something—about Victor's skating, that made it look like he wasn't improving his skills. In fact, it looked like Victor had hit a wall in his skating skills.

And that made Yakov afraid.

The music reached its climax as Victor goes into his final jump, a combination jump of the quadruple loop/triple toe. It was landed, but the triple toe could've been performed better in Yakov's mind. Victor enters his final combination spin as the music finishes and he holds his finish stance.

Yakov called him over to the boards. "Victor, are you working on your jumps at all lately? I mean, you have been coming to practices regularly, but I haven't been with working you all the time, so I just assumed that you would practice on your own. What's happened?"

Victor felt a different kind of chills race up his back. "N—nothing. I don't what you're seeing, but I feel great. I just wanted to show you what I've created with the song I chose. What do you think, Yakov?"

Yakov nodded. "It's good, we can use it for your upcoming season. Now the question is, are there more?"

Victor laughed. "You know me so well. That's only option 15 out of 29! Who knows? I might take a few or add a few to the list!"

"Don't forget about your free skate either!" Yakov reminded him. "2014 is the year of the Winter Olympics, Victor! And they're being held here, in Russia! Sochi! You are planning to go, aren't you?"

The Olympics...the ultimate competition for any aspiring athlete. The dream of every young child when they began some sort of athletic. Victor placed second at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and he had been berated by Yakov for a long time for not getting gold. Now, it's four years later, he could finally try again.

"Of course I'm planning to go! I'm not crazy!" Victor exclaimed.

Yakov sighed. "Good. The 2014 Russian Championships are the deciding factor for who gets sent and who doesn't. Thanks to yours and Mila Babicheva's placements from the 2013 Worlds, we get to send 3 men and 2 ladies for the singles' event.

"Now listen, there is also a team event, but we'll be going into more details about that later. Right now, you should focus on getting your skills back up because you want the Skating Union to pick you." Yakov pressed.

Victor pursed his lips when Yakov mentioned the Skating Union. His view of them has now changed drastically thanks to Liv. He no longer trusts the scores he receives from them, but will still skate to the best of his ability nevertheless. Wait a minute...Liv! If she does really well at Nationals, then maybe she'll make the Olympic team!

But first, she still needs to pick a song...it's almost the end of May. There's still one more month left before she said that she would have a song chosen by. Victor knew that choosing a song to skate to is important, but it's also important to actually create the program too!

How hard is it to a pick a song? Clearly, there's something wrong. If Liv is overthinking the process, then expression won't come naturally in the performance. What would a coach do in a situation like this? A light bulb flickered above Victor's head.

"Yakov! Uh...what would you do if I was taking too long in selecting a song for my program?" Victor suddenly asked.

"Huh? How long is your list exactly?" Yakov questioned suspiciously.

"No—no! Don't worry! I'm just giving scenarios! Let's say that I'm a struggling skater, who's trying hard to find something to skate to that'll really bring out my best qualities!" Victor tried to explain.

"Well...if you're a struggling skater. I'd say that it's because you're trying too hard in being just like the rest of the competitors. If you want to make it big, you're going to have to create your own style." Yakov explained.

A wave of energy filled Victor. Of course! Why didn't he do this from the very beginning? Victor resisted the urge to smack himself for his own stupidity. And instead, gave Yakov a quick pat on the back and ran past him.

"Thanks, Yakov! I got to go now! See you tomorrow!" He cried as he went towards the change rooms.

"What? Victor! You only just got here! Are you trying to skip practice?" Yakov demanded.

Too late, Victor already disappeared into the change room. Yakov pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. What on Earth was going on with his top skater lately?

It's almost like that Victor has another priority besides his own training. Yakov is not ok with this. They've worked hard to get where they are now, he's not about to let Victor take it all for granted and fall back down.

But first...Yakov needs to find out what Victor is doing behind his back exactly.

* * *

Victor drove all the way back to his apartment. It was only three in the afternoon, he got plenty of time before his lesson with Liv began.

Plenty of time to do some proper research on what kind of skater Liv is.

He barged into his apartment and saw that Makkachin was asleep on the couch. Victor gave his pet a gentle pat on the head before grabbing his laptop off of his desk and settling down on the empty space beside Makkachin.

He typed in the search bar of YouTube, _Olivia Nguyen_. Immediately lines of suggestions came up right underneath the search bar. _2011 world championships, 2011 skate Canada, 2010 European championships, etc._

Victor selected the 2011 Grand Prix Final. The first video came up, displaying Liv's free skate at that event. He clicked on it and let the advertisement play to the end. He hated it when there was no skip button.

Finally, the actual video began and the English commentators in the background could be heard as Liv squeezed the hands of a healthier-looking Angela Raskalov at the boards, who helped straighten the straps on her violet dress before sending her off.

The commentators introduce a brief recap of her past season and the name of the song she's skating to, _Moonlight Sonata_. Liv's movements were smooth and lyrical throughout. Her jumping passes included the triple flip/triple toe, double axel, triple loop, and more. Victor kept a careful eye on her face throughout the program.

Seeing if he can see her feelings, her thoughts of her own free skate. Sure, it was expressive and she was very consistent, but it wasn't _deep._ As if he the commentators could hear what he's thinking of, they say the exact same thing.

" _You know, Paul. I think she has a lot of potential. But she's just not quite there yet. I mean, she's just so consistent, but her jumps are so small, and she doesn't exactly fill up the entire arena with her skate."_

" _I know what you mean, Gord. It's like she's a present just waiting to be opened. She has the skills, she just lacks the 'flare' and I think that's what causing her to be unable to beat the American and other Russian ladies, unless of course, one of them completely bombs their free skate today."_

Liv finishes her program and skates over to Angela, who joyously hugs her and hands her the skate guards. They sit down at the kiss-and-cry to wait for Liv's scores to be announced. A total of 121.73 points, which puts her in second place for the time being.

The overall score was alright, but it was the program components that really caught Victor's eyes. It was lower than he assumed her PCS to be. The technical scores weren't too odd, it seemed pretty fair considering her jumps and the quality in which she executes them.

It wasn't too high, which is fair, considering that she may have underrotated on a few of her jumps and some of her landings were scratchy. But the program components! How is it so low? He thought hard, and then clicked on the next video in the suggested list.

Several minutes passed by, and Victor had watched the majority of Liv's 2011 and 2010 seasons. From what he saw, Liv often skates to music that's rarely been used and displays a broad variety of emotions in her performances. It's sometimes difficult to guess what kind of character she's embodying.

Victor also saw a pattern in the majority of her scores. Whenever Liv skates cleanly, her program components gets attacked. Whenever she falls on her jumps, her technical scores gets attacked while her program components remain the same as always. And it's due to that, Liv is unable to claim gold at the majority of her events.

Victor put his laptop away and stretched his arms out, standing up from the couch. Makkachin was still sleeping, and it was almost time for him to go to the rink and meet Liv.

He prepared to leave the apartment as he checked to make sure Makkachin's food and water bowl has been refilled and he has his keys on him. Picking up his skating bag, Victor left the apartment.

* * *

 _At the ice rink._

Victor patted Liv on the back, who has the face of a ghost currently. He held back the urge to laugh over her appearance and tried to comfort her instead.

"I'm sure you did fine. Everybody's like this after the exam."

" _Sob, sob._ I think I failed it!" Liv cried.

"That's a slight exaggeration, you _think_ you failed it, but watch. You're going to get a mark higher than you thought it was when you get it back."

"Victor...how did you survive college?"

"By not going on to take a Master's degree! I mean seriously, Liv! Why did you add an additional two years to your studies?"

Liv pulled herself together. "So I can increase my chances of getting a job that I want. Not everyone out there is so blessed to have things handed to them. I had to work hard to get where I am now. And I will continue to do that."

"If you get a job offer that's out of this country, will you take it?" Victor asked.

"I don't know. To be honest, I think it'll be easier to look for jobs back in the US. Not that I'm planning to quit skating or anything...just saying."

Victor didn't like what his instincts were telling him. He doesn't want Liv to leave skating, to leave this country. But what's his right to interfere with her life? She's already struggling enough, she deserves to go where she'll be successful. But he wants her to stay…

"You really want to me to stay here?" Liv asked, she almost sounded hopeful.

That question caught Victor off-guard. How was he supposed to answer that? But he did hear a slight tone of joy in her voice, so did that mean she's glad that he wants her to stay? What does that mean?

"It's not that I want you to stay here...but, uh...alright, yeah. It'd be great if you stayed here, but if things really aren't working out, you can always leave." Victor explained.

Liv smiled. "You're so weird."

Victor nearly fell off the bench. "What? Why?"

"Before we met, you always seemed so high and mighty, out of reach. All those times when you appeared on the tv screen, you were in a completely different world." Liv explained. "But now, you seem pretty...human. Having normal conversations, doing normal everyday stuff...it's just so contrasting."

Victor stood up and hit Liv on the shoulder. "You think way too deeply about life. Sometimes, it's better to get off your butt and just go on with it! Now, are we going to get on the ice or not?"

Liv rubbed her shoulder as she nodded. "Let's start."

They both step on the freshly cleaned ice surface and began warming up with some powerful stroking. Forward, backward, clockwise, and counterclockwise. After that, Victor had Liv do a few backspins to prepare for the jumps they'll be working on soon.

Liv completes one more backspin and Victor commanded her to do some single jumps, and work her way to the doubles while saving the triples for last. As she practices on that, he skates over to the audio system area and attempts to connect his phone to the correct cables and tested the sound quality by selecting a random song.

A loud violent blast of music escaped from the speakers, giving both Victor and Liv a scare. Liv fell down in shock and covered her ears. Victor began apologizing as he turned down the volume.

It took a few moments before everything is adjusted properly. By then, Victor was back on the ice with Liv. He prepared to talk to her about her 2014 programs today.

"Liv, June is almost here. Have you got a good idea about what you're going to skate to for your short and long programs?" Victor asked.

"Uh...not yet, but wait. Like I said, I'll have things ready by the end of June—"

"You should have a good idea of what you want by _now._ " Victor pressed. "And then have a confirmation by the end of June, so we get all of July and August to make up and refine your programs."

"You don't understand, it's difficult to choose music—"

"No, _you_ don't seem to understand. You're trying too hard to be something you're not."

Liv opened her mouth to complain, but Victor silenced her with the stop of a hand. "I've watched your past programs. You always skate to something that's uncommon, and I like that. But story and meaning behind your programs? Well, it's not very clear to interpret."

"I try my best! It's not easy expressing myself to those songs—" Liv covered her mouth as she realized her mistake.

Victor pointed at her accusingly, with a smug smirk on his face. "Aha! So you never really wanted to skate to those songs after all! Why make your programs around them?"

Liv sighed in defeat. "Alright, you got me. I choose songs based on judges' preferences."

Victor blinked. "Judges' preferences?"

"It doesn't matter how much the audience cheers for you or loves you, in the end, your placement is given by the judges' scores. I thought that if I could at least skate to something that'll get their attention, maybe I could finally...finally become a real winner." Liv admitted.

Victor crossed his arms and blew out a low sigh. Liv had her head down and looking in the other direction, she quietly waited for his response.

"Look at me." Victor commanded.

Liv slowly turned her head around and looked up in front of her. That was not enough to satisfy Victor.

"Look directly at me. Into my eyes." He squinted down at Liv as he skated a few centimeters closer.

Liv did as he commanded and looked directly in his eyes. Victor still had his arms crossed as he looked at Liv, making sure that she's making absolute eye contact. And she was. Those large brown almond-shaped eyes were forcing each of the two dark pupils to focus on his own pupils.

Satisfied, Victor precedes to talk. "That's not how you win." He simply said. "That's pretending, faking. Even if the judges give you the winning score, you're not a 'winner.' You hear me?"

Liv nodded fiercely, gulping a bit as well.

"Real winners _make_ the judges give them the winning score. Not begging them to give them the winning score. Pretenders do that, and under my tutelage, you're not going to be a pretender any longer."

Victor put a hand on Liv's shoulder. She felt the strength of his palm and fingers through the thin fabric of her gray scoop neck shirt.

"You're going to be a winner. A real one. And real winners create their own style. Starting from the songs they choose to skate to." Victor said.

Liv felt slightly intimidated by all of this, she did not feel ready to pursue whatever Victor had in store for her. It was so new and different, it made her feel scared. But at the same time, also excited. She was going into unknown territory, he was going into unknown territory, they only have trust to support them.

"Well then, I suppose that choosing my songs would mean choosing songs that I enjoy listening to?" Liv asked.

"Not just that. Songs that connect to you, relate to you, make you feel _something_ inside. From there on out, your whole program will just fall into place naturally, because you know how you're going to skate! You know how you're going to express yourself! You know what your angle is!" Victor cried.

"I don't know. What if it's not appropriate for skating? What if the public dislikes the theme? I know that there are plenty of haters out there, and I don't exactly want to start up anything." Liv replied.

Victor blew a few strands of his hair out of his face for a couple of seconds. He dragged his toepick across the ice, scraping bits of snow up.

"Liv, all you got to do is think about things that you enjoy. Things that you think are impactful for you. Things that you like."

"Like what? What's your story behind your programs? What things do you like?"

"I like men."

The sound in the arena died down. Victor just stood there with his arms held at his sides, looking absolutely neutral. Liv, on the other hand, looked like she had just encountered Medusa. Her entire body was frozen in place, like a stone statue. An eternity had passed before a word was finally said. By courtesy of Liv.

"I beg your pardon?" She said.

Victor repeated himself casually. "I like men."

When Liv didn't say anything, Victor elaborated. "People say that women are always so confusing and hard to understand. But to me, men seem more complicated. I always find them so...interesting to analyze. Based on all of the stereotypes, I look at men with a different perspective, and I try to understand them.

"They're always hiding something, keeping one part of themselves hidden away. I guess that's what triggers my interest. If I dig deep enough, I may uncover that part they've hidden away. And that's what I skate to. My eternal struggle to understand people of a gender I belong to."

Victor expected Liv to be speechless. Usually, he wouldn't have revealed such a thing to anybody else, especially to a female. But this time, he's trying it out. He's testing Liv. Would she be able to understand him?

He's been having a hard time determining Liv ever since they've first met. He knows that there's something about her that made her stand out from the other females he's befriended in the past. None of those women were as implicit as Liv.

The way he analyzes Liv is the same way he analyzes Max. And other men he finds so interesting. So this is the moment of truth. If Liv is able to know Victor's inner feelings, then it's confirmed.

She's significant in his life. She means more than just a student and a fellow skater friend.

Liv shuts her eyes for awhile before reopening them with a warmer tone and smiled. "Oh...I get it now. And I'm glad I get it too. Thanks for telling me this, Victor. I really appreciate it."

Victor was shocked. "Wait, so you know what I mean?"

"'Course I do. You like what you like and I'm fine with that. You've been helping me so much, what kind of person would I be if I became indifferent to you now?"

"And knowing this fact now, is it safe for me to ask you once again, what I mean to you?" Victor asked carefully.

"You're still the greatest thing that's happened to me here. And I still want to spend more time with you like that morning when you dragged us around the waterfront area of this city." Liv confessed.

Victor felt like the happiest guy on Earth. Everything was happening perfectly. Nothing was going wrong. This is amazing. This feels amazing.

He skated out to Liv and wrapped his arms around her joyously. This time, Liv returned his hug, smiling profoundly against his black t-shirt.

"Alright, Liv. Let's see how this goes. Let's see how this goes. But first! You have to pick your song. So I'll ask you one more time, what do you like?" Victor whispered.

Liv thought deep and hard about it. "I like...anime and video game osts…"

* * *

 **This chapter was a little difficult for me write at first because I was running out inspiration in how to tell this story. I have this whole story mapped out in my head, but it's really hard to get it down word for word. Not to mention I always leave out small details that are absolutely vital for story writing.**

 **But the main thing I'm having a hard writing is probably Victor's thoughts. He's just a really interesting character, and it's difficult to get what he's thinking of sometimes. I always try my best when writing him, but there are many times when I think that I may be ruining his character...**

 **I don't know! I'm just working with the knowledge and experience I have! (Which is not a lot...)**

 **But oh well, it's not like I'm writing for a living or anything. I'm writing because I like to write. And I want people to enjoy what I write.**

 **Thanks for reading. Please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW! :D**


	12. Exploring Interests

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI. Just this fanfic.**

 **First of all, thank you to those of you who reviewed in the last chapter. I got one review that made me question if it's difficult to tell the differences in the timeline of the story. So from now, for the parts of the stories that's taking place in the past, (after chapter 8 when Victor begins telling Yuri about Olivia), I'll be labeling those chapters with "Before YOI" (Before events of Yuri! On Ice). Is that helpful, sort of?**

 **Anyways, I'm starting to introduce anime and video games from real life into this fanfic, because I'm assuming the YOI universe to be set in our reality. By the way, all of these things about anime and video games that I'm writing about in this fanfic, are based on my personal opinion of it. So please don't criticize if you think some things are wrong or you just don't agree with them. But I'm open to _constructive_ criticism.**

 **Again, please REVIEW if you want more and if you want to ask anything. (PMing me is also an option). FAVOURITE and FOLLOW!**

 **Please, enjoy.**

* * *

 **Ch. 11: Exploring Interests (Before YOI)**

 _Thursday. May. 30, 2013. Indoor ice rink._

Victor pulled back from the embrace but kept his hands on Liv's shoulders. He was still ecstatic about her understanding his inner feelings and couldn't stop smiling. But he had to get back on track.

"You like anime and video game osts?" He repeated.

"Yeah. I'm a bit of a...how would you describe it? Computer nerd…?" Liv shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know! That's the only way I can describe it in a language you can understand!"

Victor laughed. "Just say what you mean to say. Explain it to me."

Liv cleared her throat. A serious aura emerged from her as she puts on a professional face. She draws an imaginary diagram in the air with her fingers.

"Ahem. People who enjoy spending their free time indoors watching nothing but videos on their computers are said to be 'computer nerds,' but that term basically labels them all as geniuses, which is not true.

"The actual name is 'otaku.' And I, myself, am one. Now, anime is—"

"—Japanese style tv show and books where characters do these things that are completely irrational and insane and just plain unrealistic. Right?"

A swift blow across the chest caused Victor to stumble back on the ice and fall onto his rear end. Liv skates up to her fallen coach and stops before him. A nervous smile form on her face and her hands trembled as she stared down at Victor.

" _Anime_ is what you _watch. Manga_ is what you _read_. Got that? Now I don't want to hear that same mistake being repeated again the future understood?" She asked.

Victor nodded his head greatly. "Y—yes. Of course."

"Good." Liv extends her hand to help him back up to his feet. But then suddenly began squeezing it to the brink of cutting off his circulation.

Victor cringed from her grip. "Aaahh...what did I do wrong now?"

"Anime does display unrealistic events, but what kind of tv show doesn't? And I'm telling you right now, I wouldn't be defending this so hard if it isn't good." Liv's grip on his hand tightened further.

"Aaahhh! Alright, alright! I'm sorry! Please...I'm sorry, I was too hasty in my judgment."

Victor felt the vice-like grip on his hand slightly loosen. Liv wasn't finished talking, though.

"Since I'm going to choose an ost from an anime, I recommend you start watching some too. Otherwise, you'll have no idea what I'm representing or the story behind it. Which is kind of necessary for a coach to know."

"Right...ok, so where do I start?" Victor asked confusingly.

"I'll text you a list later. For now, I kind want to get back to practice." Liv admitted.

Victor sighed in relief as he felt Liv's hand finally let go, he wiggles his fingers around, feeling for anything abnormal. But other than his warm blood rushing back into his palm, and the stiffness, he was ok.

"Ok. We got until around 5. Let's work on spins and field moves today. I think jumps can take a break."

"I'm down for that."

Victor stood at a good distance as Liv went into a simple flying camel. He is always impressed by her spins, she had good speed and centering, and best of all, good positions.

That was one of Liv's strengths, spins, though her field moves are also very well done, from spirals to Ina Bauers and spread eagles. She had strong basic skating skills, unlike some of his rinkmates, who focuses all their energy into jumps, which are what's skating is all about currently.

Jumps were worth the most out of all the moves in competitive figure skating. As a reigning champion, Victor knew that the only reason he's given such high scores were because of his godly jumping abilities. His program components only boosted him a little further up the scale.

He was not oblivious, she was not oblivious. Skating is all about the jumps now. That gave an edge to younger and newer skaters, such as Yuri Plisetsky, who had both the body and tutelage for jumping. For skaters who were in the game for a longer time, they had to adjust what they're used to performing in order to keep up with the new shift.

Such lack of artistry in skating has been complained about by many spectators and fans, not just Victor himself. And that's why he works hard on his programs, to surprise his audience, to make things interesting, and to give some hope to the artists out there. Figure skating is not going down the path of corruption.

At least Victor hoped it won't be.

But now...it seems that it kind of is. Unfair judging, race and nationality differences, biased opinions, what's going to be next? Politics? Oh wait, never mind, at nearly every single competition Victor's been to, there's always at least one American lady on the podium.

What is going on in skating now?

"Victor! Do you want me to do it again?"

He snaps out of his thoughts. "Uh? No! That's alright! Your flying camel is good. I need to see your flying sit, though. Can you perform it from the series of three turns?"

"Death drop?" Liv confirmed. Victor nodded.

Liv scanned the ice for any clean patches to spin on. She sets on an unused portion of the rink and builds up speed for the entrance of the spin. Pushing off of her right toepick, she completes a series of three turns before going onto the last outside edge and bringing her free leg around as she leaps into the air.

Her body opens up nearly parallel to the surface of the ice before quickly twisting into the back sitspin position as the toepick of her right skate touches the ice. The rest of her body follows through and she adjusts her weight to be directly on the rocker of her skate.

Victor skated a little closer to get a better look in Liv's position and centering. It was difficult centering a flying sitspin, many skaters tend to travel a bit from their landing area before regaining balance and then finally centering.

"Keep your free leg straighter!" He yelled. "Don't hunch that back!"

Liv straightened her free leg and sat up a little more than she's used to. After completing about ten rotations in total, she stood back up and exits the spin. Victor skates towards the area where she spun upon, examining the circular marks made by Liv's blade on the ice.

A few of them were tiny loops trailing away from the point where she landed from the jump entrance, but the majority were tightly packed together. Victor faced Liv again. "Let's see it one more time. Try and see if you can find your center as soon as you land. Predict it."

Nodding, Liv skates away, preparing to perform the flying sit once again. Victor kept a careful eye on both the clock and her movements, the last thing he wants is for Liv to rush home again. The end of May is the time of the year for final exams, and Liv had a few more to write before her summer break officially begins.

And then they could finally start making their programs for the 2014 season. The rest of the afternoon was spent with Liv performing different spin combinations and sequences of spirals. Although Victor hated it when Yakov pushed him hard at his practices, he couldn't help but push Liv hard at this practice.

Actually, he pushed her at every single practice they've scheduled since they began meeting regularly. Liv does a few backward crossovers into a Y-spiral before letting go of her foot, turning it into a fan spiral.

"Cross-hand bielmann into arabesque spiral! Oh, and change of edge too!" Victor cried.

Liv skates forward crossovers before grabbing her left blade with her right hand and hoisting it over her head, keeping her right inside edge deep and controlled. Her face was flushed from all this movement, her teeth clenching as she lets go of her blade and brings her body lower, raising her free leg high behind her, at the same time, changing to a right outside edge.

Victor looked closely at her face. "Smile! You have to smile!"

Liv finishes her spiral sequence and gawks at him in disbelief. "You think I can manage a smile right now!?"

"Alright, fine. But in competitions, you're going to have to smile. We're about done anyways. Perform one last combination spin." Victor commands.

Liv groaned. "I don't believe that coach Yakov is this hard with you." She mutters as she skates away.

"Keep saying that and I'll make you do laps around the ice!" Victor cringed. _"Damnit! Now I really sound like Yakov…"_

Liv does a right inside three-turn to enter her combination spin, starting with the basic camel spin. After about three rotations, she goes down into a broken-leg sitspin and then a catch-foot layback spin. Letting go of her right blade, she puts it down firmly on the ice to enter a new spin, on her opposite foot, spinning in the clockwise direction.

Once again, she starts off with the camel spin and holds it for about three rotations. Victor could see that this spin is slower than her first camel spin, proof that she is indeed, tired. Liv goes into a cannonball sitspin from the camel spin but couldn't hold the position and fell back onto the heel of her blade.

Her rear end hits the surface of the ice, followed her legs, her back, and finally her arms and hand. Liv gives up any effort to get back to her feet and just lies there, facing the bright white lights on the ceiling above the rink.

Victor barely managed to hold in his laughter. "Li—Liv! Get back up! Come on! I promise you can go home after this!"

Liv groans incoherently, "I'm dead. You killed me. You and your high expectations and rigorous methods."

"Get back up before I go over and drag you to your feet!"

"Drag me home!"

 _Several minutes later_.

Liv finishes her combination spin with an upright I-spin. Victor skates over to pat her on the back.

"See? Wasn't so bad. Alright, now we can leave." He checks the time. 4:57, good.

Liv hurriedly skates off the ice, followed by Victor. They untied their boots and put them back in their specific bags. Victor searches his outer bag pocket for his phone before leaving the rink.

The two of them walked down the path that leads to the parking lot. It was a warm day, with a slight breeze in the air. Giving a fragment of what summer would be like soon.

Liv breathed in the fresh air. "You know, for the first time. I'm looking forward to summer break. I actually got something to do and work towards."

"Don't you do off-season regiments every summer, though?" Victor asked.

"Yeah, but. This is different. I feel much more comfortable now, psychologically, relaxed. But of course, every muscle in my legs are screaming in pain!"

Victor laughed and mentally smiled. Liv felt more comfortable with him here. He did it. She feels more integrated with this country, well, - _ish_. At least she's not feeling as homesick and outcasted as she was before.

They bid each other farewell at the parking lot and went down their individual ways home. Victor too felt slightly more relaxed during the practice sessions with Liv. He managed to get through to her interests today, and she managed to get through to his as well.

Anime and video game osts...he would've never been able to guess in a million years that those were things that interested Liv.

But he can't make her change her interests so he would have to get to know them too if he wants to be a proper coach. Each skater has a different taste in style and different backstories, it's hard to know what they're thinking of deep inside.

Is this what Yakov has to go through for every one of his students? Victor suddenly felt a deeper respect towards his coach, for being able to support and enhance the angles of each of his skaters, even if he has no idea what they want to express when performing.

Victor finally reaches the parking lot of his building and adjusts his car in his area of the lot. He then enters the front door and goes up to his apartment complex. Turning on the lights inside, Victor was immediately greeted by an energetic Makkachin.

They interact for a few seconds before Makkachin runs back to the living and Victor closes the door, leaning against its hard exterior, sliding down against it in fatigue. He, too, was tired from the work that would be lying ahead of him as soon as summer begins.

Off-season training is equivalent to boot-camp in hell. Early morning distance runs...interval training...plyometrics...and worst of all: high-intensity weight training. The last thing Victor wanted to do was fifty bar pull-ups. Memories of that experience from last year resurfaced.

With Yakov's military sergeant voice ringing in the background, shouting, _"thirty-three! Thirty-four! Pick up the pace! Stop cheating! Make sure your chin is ABOVE the bar! Victor, repeat from thirty! Thirty! Thirty-one…"_

Victor's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone's ringtone, alerting him with a new text message. He immediately takes it out from his pocket and sees the message preview from Liv across his lock screen, saying: _list of recommended anime_.

Sliding across the screen, Victor sees the entirety of the text messaged list. His eyes landed on the first item: _1\. Angel Beats…_

* * *

 _Monday. June. 3, 2013. St. Petersburg Ice Rink._

Victor stopped to catch his breath as he put a hand on the metal bars at the top of the viewing area of this ice rink. Running long-distance laps is not his thing. And that's already very obvious to him, but it doesn't change the fact that Yakov makes every single one of his skaters work on their stamina.

It was five in the morning and the quiet ice rink was already partially filled with skaters running laps around the top of the viewing area. A total of thirty laps was needed in order to finish. Victor groaned as he felt his insides cramping and aching for him to stop.

Yakov blew his whistle at him.

"Victor! Stop wasting time and start running! You'll only extend this pain for yourself!"

Victor whined as he gradually began to build up his speed again. "Easy for you to say! You're the one with the coffee!"

By his twenty-fifth lap, Victor felt himself dry heaving and burning up. He is not excited to see how he looks in the mirror after this is all done and over with. Suddenly, another person appears next to him.

It was Yuri. P.

The younger skater's face was also flushed bright red and had parts of his hair stick to his forehead due to the buildup of sweat. Victor felt a wave of energy pass through his systems, the last thing Yuri. P needs was a bad example of a role model.

Gathering up his remaining pride, Victor speeds ahead and concentrates hard, easily running past every single one of the skaters ahead of him. Even Yakov, watching from the sidelines, seemed to be amused.

Victor completes the thirtieth lap and slumps down upon the cold concrete floor. He crawls towards Yakov, tugging his coach's pant legs.

"Water...water…" Victor mumbled incoherently.

Yakov pulls his foot back from Victor's hand and kicks him off to the side.

* * *

 _Later that afternoon._

All the skaters were on the ice, working on their individual skills and programs. Victor was on his song choice number 20, which was _Love's Sorrow._ A sweet but painful song that touched Victor where he is most sensitive.

Halfway through his program, Victor prepares to enter his triple axel. Yakov suddenly enters from the double doors, shouting for all of their attention at the top of his lungs. Victor pops his jump and lands on two feet, the rest of the skaters also stop what they were doing.

Yakov calls for all them to come over to the boards. "Alright, the ISU released the assignments for skaters going to the 2013-14 Grand Prix Series."

A sea of murmurs and mumbles started amongst the skaters, who are feeling either too nervous or too excited. Yakov continued speaking.

"I've emailed the list to you all right now. No need to go online and check, just go on your phones."

Immediately, most of the skaters left the ice and went to the change rooms, where their phones were all located. Victor unlocked his locker after about four tries and dug his phone out of the bottom of his bag.

Going into his mail app, he opens the pdf file attached to the email he received from Yakov. He scans down the list towards the "N" section due to his last name beginning with "N." There he is! Victor Nikiforov, assigned to the Skate Canada and Rostelecom Cup events.

Sighing in relief, Victor puts his phone back into his bag and jumps up in joy. Not because he was given assignments to the Grand Prix Series, honestly, he wasn't too surprised to see that. But because he gets to perform another new program for international audiences again.

* * *

 _At the North Bay University Hospital._

Victor had decided to see Liv at her college after skating practice, only to find that she was planning on visiting Angela at the hospital again. So being the supportive friend he thinks he is, he accompanies her to the North Bay University Hospital.

Once they got there, Liv finds Angela in the surgical wing area of the hospital. After consulting a few nurses in the area, they find out that Angela just recently underwent another surgery in an attempt to control the tumor. She was currently unable to have any visitors.

Discouraged, Liv decided to go back outside. Victor suggested sitting in one of the benches out in the back of the hospital where a large grassy field was located for patients to enjoy the outdoors.

They sat in silence for awhile before Liv started the conversation.

"It must be nice. Being able to go to the Grand Prix again."

"Did you check the list?" Victor asked. "I didn't exactly look for your name in there, but maybe there's a slight chance—"

"Nope. I'm not in there. And there's no way I'd be in there. I missed the 2013 Worlds, duh." Liv answered.

Victor thought of another solution. "Well, some host countries invite skaters to their events. Maybe you'll be invited to Skate America."

Liv burst out laughing. Victor looked at her weirdly until she explained herself. "Skate America? Hmph. Fat chance. America hates me."

Victor felt his jaw drop down the ground. "Hates you? Why? Isn't your home country the US?"

"Well, that's what I assume based on my actions and my past international competition experiences. I switched the country I was originally representing and they probably felt that I had betrayed them. So every American judge at events I've been to scores me harder than they do to other skaters. At least that's what Angela thinks too."

Victor turns away from Liv awkwardly. It was very clear he shouldn't have even suggested the idea of being invited to an event. "Oookkkk...let's talk about your programs for the 2014 Nationals instead! Have you finally selected a song?"

"Yes, I have. For the short program at least. I have yet to find something for the free skate." Liv replied excitedly.

"Great! What is it?" Victor asked, equally excited.

"Can't tell you until you've watched the anime the song is from. Otherwise, you won't feel the emotions I want you to feel."

"Alright...which one is it? You texted me a whole list. Where am I supposed to start?"

Liv looked at him as if the answer couldn't be any more obvious. "From number 1. Angel Beats."

* * *

Throughout the rest of the week, Victor worked hard during his off-ice workouts and on-ice practices. In between all of his rough training, he tries to get started on exploring Liv's interests, but the same thing always happens.

He'd come back home all tired and worn out from training and falls asleep with his clothes on and eats dinner at around eight in the night. And then he washes up and sleeps properly in his bed and begins again all over the next morning.

During his practices with Liv, he sees that she is finally starting to work on the layout of her short program, but he still has no idea what song she has selected to skate to. And that made it hard for him to envision her entire performance.

But of course, whenever he asked for her song, she'd always reply with, "have you started watching anything from the list yet?"

And whenever he's reminding himself to not forget to do exactly that, Yakov has him work double the effort during practice.

Commands such as, "higher, Victor! Faster, Victor! Get back to your feet, Victor!" And "stop fooling around, Victor!" Began to engrave themselves into the side of Victor's brain.

He could never catch a real break during these times. Victor's literally been jumping back and forth between his two lives. From focusing on his own training to helping Liv with hers. Every day when he went on the distance run, when he did leg presses, when he jumped rope, when he was on the ice working on every single element necessary to work on, he had to really _work._

Otherwise his skills won't be improving, and eventually, it'll be noticeable. Unfortunately for Victor, Yakov's already beginning to notice.

Victor's constant distracted expression whenever he's training, his excuses for leaving practice early every now and then, his lack of improvement and refinement on his jumps. Yakov was beginning to grow suspicious. But luckily, he had enough trust in Victor to not investigate further.

As for Victor, he gradually begins to try harder to dig into Liv's interests. From googling popular and well-known RPG games—since those were the ones Liv enjoys, and of course, looking deeper into the world of anime.

The thing is with Victor, is that it takes some time before he thinks it's worth to begin watching something new. And right now, he's just not there yet with anime. At least with video games, he has some background knowledge on that world.

Victor also began visiting several stores he knows that sells all kinds of RPGs. He scans down aisles, looking at several different covers and reading the synopsis of the game's storyline on the back. A few of them he had already played before or watched other people play before, and a few new ones he's never seen before managed to get his attention.

And once, he bumped into Liv at one of the stores he was going through one weekend afternoon.

"Liv!" Victor called out, grabbing her attention.

She looked up from the game disc cover she was holding in his direction. "Hey! Fancy meeting you here! Are you finally trying to find more about me?"

"I've been trying to find what's so special behind these video games that's attracting you so much to them." Victor gestured to the one he's holding in his hand. "I mean like this one: Minecraft. What the hell is this?"

Liv shook her head. "That's because you're looking the wrong section. I'm not into the video game's actual gameplay to be completely honest. It's the storyline I'm into. Video game stories are almost as intriguing as anime stories. And some of its osts inside, paint a beautiful representation of what's going on in the story of the game."

Victor rolled his hands around. "For example…?"

Liv turned around, her eyes looking up and down the shelves for something to use. Finally, she settles on a disc cover on the upper left portion of the pile.

"Like this: Heavy Rain."

And it was after that meeting, Victor began understanding Liv's interests better. She likes creativity and beauty, no matter the format. And that's why she enjoys songs from anime and video games because she likes their stories and because of that, she'll be able to express herself when performing on ice.

It was really that simple. Now, Victor just has to start actually watching the things she likes and not just look over them. This time, for real.

He keeps on running it over in his head: "got to start watching, got to start watching, got to start watching...ugh!" Victor pops another triple axel and this time, he falls upon landing back down on two feet.

Yakov sighs in dejection. Today's practice is not going anywhere. It's quite obvious that Victor is just not feeling 'it' right now. More practice would only equal to more stress at this rate.

"Victor, why don't you take the rest of the day off? It's been really difficult getting you to move out of square one lately."

Victor rubbed his aching tailbone. "I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all."

Yakov disagreed. "And that's due to you not being able to focus. You're probably doing something in your personal life that's hindering you right now. So, I'm only suggesting this to you once. Go home and rest up. Come back tomorrow with a better attitude."

The argument ended right there. Victor was not given a chance to complain because Yakov left to go work with Constantine right after. Taking a few minutes to pack up his items and walk out of the arena, Victor felt a mix of satisfaction and disappointment.

He got to leave early and relax, but it also meant that Yakov clearly didn't want him around the rink right now. Which meant that he was probably skating really badly...and that didn't go too well with his pride.

Entering his apartment, Victor saw that Makkachin was asleep on his couch, making the whole complex seem empty for some reason. He's never been back from a skating practice this early in the day. His home seemed so...quiet.

For the first time, Victor felt lonely. There wasn't anything else for him to do right now. Except for maybe talking to Liv. Immediately, Victor went to his bedroom and took out his phone, clicking on Liv's name from his contacts list.

As soon as he did, he sees the list of recommended anime that he has yet to start. Wait a minute...he doesn't have anything else to do, so did that mean he could finally start watching number one on the list?

Yes! It seems so! If he tried to text or call Liv right now, she'd probably ask him if he's started watching anything on her list yet. Well, he's about to. Pulling out his laptop from his desk, Victor unplugs it from the charger and sits on his bed.

"Let's see...number one on the list was...Angel Beats…" Victor typed it into the search bar of his browser and clicked on 'episode 1 online subbed.'

He has no idea what kind of website allowed for full episodes of these shows, so he basically clicked on the very first link that showed up in the results. It directed him to a large black webpage with several links and a large video player in the middle of it. There were plenty of ads all around the web page, featuring images that Victor did not need to see.

A short summary displayed right above the video player.

" _Otonashi awakens only to learn he is dead. A rifle-toting girl named Yuri explains that they are in the afterlife, and Otonashi realizes the only thing he can remember about himself is his name. Yuri tells him that she leads the Shinda Sekai Sensen (Afterlife Battlefront) and wages war against a girl named Tenshi. Unable to believe Yuri's claims that Tenshi is evil, Otonashi attempts to speak with her, but the encounter doesn't go as he intended._

 _Otonashi decides to join the SSS and battle Tenshi, but he finds himself oddly drawn to her. While trying to regain his memories and understand Tenshi, he gradually unravels the mysteries of the afterlife."_

Question marks popped above Victor's head. "How the hell am I supposed to pronounce these names? And what kind of summary is this? Oh well, it's pretty interesting I guess."

Victor clicked on the play button in the middle of the video player, luckily, no pop-up ads appeared after. Only the small swirling circle of buffering appeared. It took a few seconds before the video began playing.

The first few notes of the piano opening to the theme song played by the mysterious white-haired girl did something unbelievable to Victor's mind.

It opened it. And immediately, he was able to take in the rest of what he's about to see.

The wide eyes of an orange-haired boy opened as the camera zooms out to show the expression of pure shock on his face. The subtitles, _"Where...am I?"_ , displays along the bottom of the full-screen video player.

* * *

 **Yay! Victor's down the path of finding out that he is in fact, an anime character too! (Jk...he'll never know the truth). This chapter brought back memories of the first time when I first started anime. I was never really into that kind of stuff before, I guess I just let the stereotypes carry me away, but honestly after I got into it...there's no way I can get out of it...**

 **And eventually, I watched Yuri! On Ice. At first, I didn't want to watch it due to my own personal experiences with figure skating, but I mustered up enough courage to watch it. And I did not regret it...well sort of...**

 **But hey, then I wouldn't be here, writing fanfiction for people to read. Anime can really influence your life. RPGs too, I'm a real sucker for video games with amazingly emotional storylines.**

 **I'm probably ranting on for too long, right...? Sorry.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please REVIEW, FOLLOW, and FAVOURITE. I mean FAVOURITE and FOLLOW! (Ahh...whatever...)**


	13. On the Way to Success

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **Fridays are the days when I work on this fanfic, but they're also days when I get a lot of homework too...but it's worth it! I'd much rather sacrifice my Fridays than the rest of the weekdays so I won't fall behind in schoolwork. The last chapter was a bit rushed, so sorry if it wasn't as good as the previous chapters (in my opinion). I hope this chapter is better or at least a good chapter for you readers.**

 **Lately, I've realized that there isn't much of a Yuri! On Ice community for . There should be one, there's just so much fanfic out there on this website! How could there not be one? To authors out there, please start a community or at least make an existing one grow bigger. It'd be nice to have the large stash of fanfics organized.**

 **Again, chapters labeled with (Before YOI) means (Before events of Yuri! On Ice). This means that the events of this chapter took place before the anime series actually began, but of course, if you noticed, the dates also tells you that this is taking place in the past, in the year 2013.**

 **Eventually, I'll get the point where Victor ends his story about Olivia to Yuri, and this fanfic will revert back to the timeline where I left off at, and continue from there. But for now, this is Victor's story from the past.**

 **Please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW if you enjoyed!**

* * *

 **Ch. 12: On the Way to Success (Before YOI)**

 _Sunday. June. 9, 2013. Victor's apartment._

Victor lay on his pillow with his comforter covering his head as he looked at his phone screen, its brightness down to its lowest and earbuds connected to its audio plugin. It was 4 in the morning and he is currently on episode 12 of _Angel Beats!_ And so far, he has been absolutely amazed at how a story of a bunch of teenagers in the afterlife moved him.

At first, Victor was confused as to what exactly was going on in this show, due to the many different events occurring and the lack of explanation to how the world in this anime works. But now, he is engaged. It's as if he just can't stop pushing the next button to watch the next episode.

 _Goddamn it, Liv! What have you done to me?_

But he wasn't ungrateful for what she did. Now, he has a new interest, and he understands something he never knew much about before. _Angel Beats_ showed him enough that he's beginning to think the storylines of anime is better than what he's ever watched before.

It's entertaining, despite being unrealistic at times. But that's what makes it more engaging. The characters are well developed and the humor is well-timed. Victor especially liked the development of the girl, Kanade, over the entire series. He also enjoyed learning the backstories of each of the main cast and what they desired before death.

And right now, he is in the middle of the part where the girl, Yurippe, finally found all of the stolen computers playing the Angel Player software in the hidden room. After conversing with a mysterious boy about the aspects of the afterlife, Yurippe decides to end things by destroying all of the computers with her guns.

Victor felt goosebumps on his arm as the _Theme of SSS_ played in the background. Then the images of Yurippe's siblings appeared, telling her to stop fighting and rest. Yurippe begins to cry as the ending theme, _Brave Song_ began to play.

And that was the end of episode 12. Victor exited full screen to click on the next button that'll lead to the very last episode.

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

His digital alarm clock went off as soon as the time turned to 5:00. Victor groaned as he put his phone to its charger and then hopping over to the nightstand to turn off the clock. He went to get changed into his warm-up outfit and grabbed his skating bag out of his closet.

"Come on! I was about to get onto the last episode! I knew I should've woke up earlier!" He quietly mumbled as he left his bedroom, making sure to not wake up Makkachin sleeping on the basket of cushions.

Making himself as quick microwavable breakfast, Victor heads out the door, preparing his mind for the intense morning routine that's about to fall upon him.

* * *

 _St. Petersburg Ice Rink._

The morning distance run was grueling as always. Followed by a short break where all the skaters get to properly socialize, rehydrate and refuel. Right after that, they split up into different locations to work on either plyometrics, flexibility, or worst of all: strength.

Lucky for Victor, he got to work on plyometrics. It wasn't too bad jumping up and down boxes of different sizes and at different intervals. Jumping always felt natural to him. He loved the feeling when his feet and body leaves the ground. It was the closest thing to flying.

When box jumping was over, he cooled down with some jump roping. And then, it was finally time for on ice practice. Of course, they got another break in between, since they're going to be on the ice for much longer than they have been off ice ever since they got here.

Putting on his ice skates, Victor catches sight of Max coming towards him. Max leaned against the side of the wall, facing Victor.

"So, have you finally managed to burst Yakov's limit?" He asked.

Victor focused on tying his skates. "What do you mean?"

"He sent you home early from practice last week Monday, right? I just assumed that he couldn't handle your horrible jumps anymore." Max smirked.

Victor pointed one of his skate guards at Max. "Still better jumps than yours," he shot right back.

The entire change room began to fill up with "Ohhh's" and "Oooohhh, right back at you's!" However, Max was completely unfazed by all of this. Instead, he grabbed the arm of Yuri. P, who was just walking by to leave the room. The young boy was already done tying on his skates and was about to get out until Max suddenly reached out for him.

"Hey kid," Max quickly said. "Wouldn't you say that Mr. Nikiforov's being a little arrogant here?"

Victor burst out laughing as he finished tying up his skates. " _'Mr. Nikiforov?!'_ Haha! Makes me sound like a married man!"

"Like hell, you would ever get married," Georgi mumbled as he leaves the room.

Max put his hands up. "Ok, alright. Whatever. Look, the point is, do you think he is or is he not?" He repeated his question to Yuri. P.

Yuri. P looked blank. He wasn't used to being in something like this. "Don't you think that we should head out to practice too?" He asked.

Max felt his face go red. "Uhh...yeah, but. Just play along alright? Answer the question, ok?"

"Listen, Yuri. It's ok to be a little arrogant. Skaters need that, otherwise, you'll never win." Victor explained.

"Shut up, Victor. You have no say in this. Just because you're setting a streak of your wins doesn't mean that you're all perfect." Max countered. "Hey, Yuri. See that? That was arrogance! Clean cut and freshly served by our apparent superstar."

"Says the one who was thrusting his gold medal into everyone's faces after last year's Cup of China!"

Constantine had heard enough. "Alright, you guys! Look, you're scaring the poor kid!" He immediately comes over to lead Yuri. P away from the two bickering skaters and towards the exit of the change room.

"Come on, Yuri. Let's leave the children to fool around in here." He closed the door behind him.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING CHILDREN?"

* * *

 _Later on the ice._

"Much better today, Victor." Yakov nodded as Victor lands another consecutive triple axel and skates over to hear the praise. "Looks like you're getting your head back on track."

Victor stretched his arms up. "Yep. And that's because I actually prepared another rough program based on this song from a film. Ever heard of _Pan's Labyrinth_?"

Yakov shook his head. "Not really. Is it foreign?"

"It's Spanish, but it's good. This lullaby is a real masterpiece. Here, I'll show it to you as soon as Mila's done her program."

They wait as Mila's music, a jumpy tango song, gradually plays until the end. The teenage red-head performs her last jump, the triple toe successfully and goes into a short choreographic sequence before entering the final combination spin.

She lets go of her skate from her catch-foot back camel and ends her program. Some spectating coaches and skaters clap while others carried on with what they were working on. Victor skates over to the audio booth just as Mila removes her phone from the music player, allowing Victor to put in his.

Yakov skates over as Victor skates to his starting point on the ice. Yakov prepares to click on the play button as soon as Victor was ready to go. In the middle of the ice, Victor stood in a neutral position with a curious expression on his face.

The play button was pressed on his phone and the lullaby from _Pan's Labyrinth_ was heard loud and clear over the entire rink. Victor carefully stepped out of his spot as if he was exploring an entirely new area he's never been to before. He smoothly transitions into his first jump, the triple axel. High and clean.

Coming out of his landing, he goes into an intricate and irregular footwork pattern. It went well with the melancholy music, full of mysteriousness and distance. It was a long footwork sequence, Victor made sure that this program's focus was on the story, and not technical elements only.

Finishing his sequence with a slow pivot, Victor takes a moment to reach out to an imaginary audience and then builds up speed again to enter his first flying sit spin. He changes edge into a forward inside edge and adds a twist variation before exiting into his second spin, the back camel with a change of foot into the front camel.

The music was in its second half as Victor performs his combination jump, quadruple lutz/triple toe. The lutz wasn't as high as he wanted, but he made up for it with the triple toe loop. The final jump was planned to be on the other end of the rink. Victor powered across the ice towards his desired area and did a quick three turn, bending deeply to generate force for his last jump, his signature quadruple flip.

And it was cleaner than he thought it would be! Even Yakov applauded a little when Victor landed his last jump. The music reaches its climax as Victor performs a short choreographic sequence that leads into his final combination spin. He ends it all with his knees on the ice his head partly buried in his hands.

Immediately, Victor gets back on his feet and skates over to Yakov, who was mildly smiling.

"You know what, Victor? I think we should use this for your 2014 short program."

Victor beamed. "You really think so?"

"I know I don't usually approve of things that 'out there,' but I really liked it. You seem to tackle this theme really strong, and that's not something I see often from you. So yeah, keep this. We'll refine it over the rest of the summer."

"Great! I was kind of hoping we'd go with this one, I really liked it too. I'm glad you think I tackle this theme really strong. So you could see the story behind it?" Victor asked.

"Sort of, but I'm going to need to watch the whole movie to gain a full understanding. What's it called again?"

" _Pan's Labyrinth._ " Victor reminded.

Yakov stuffed his hands into his jacket's pockets as he skated away to his next student. "Got it."

Victor smiled to himself. "Yakov can still see the art behind the jumps, then maybe if he sees Liv...nah, never mind."

* * *

 _After practice in the evening._

Today was a successful practice in Victor's opinion, the best one he had yet in the entirety of the month of June. Well...it's still a bit too early to decide on that. Victor literally dropped all of his belongings in his foyer and greeted Makkachin upon arrival home.

He quickly makes a simple dinner for himself and for Makkachin within half and hour for one reason. And that was to finish the last episode of _Angel Beats!_ After gobbling down his meal, Victor does a quick wash and scrub of the dishes and pots before putting them in the racks without drying them. He was too impatient.

Rushing to his bedroom, he changes into warm fluffy home clothes with Makkachin trailing behind him before resting on his bed. Victor grabs his laptop and clicked on the bookmark he's saved to the website that he's using to watch the anime on.

Scrolling down the list of episodes, he stops at episode 13. "That's it. The very last episode of the first anime I've ever watched."

He felt butterflies in his stomach and excitement build up within him as he clicked on the final episode of _Angel Beats!_ The buffering circle seemed to take an eternity before finally loading and the full-screen video of the opening theme song began.

 _21 minutes later…_

Victor hugged his pillow as he listened to what Kanade's one regret was, and that was to never be able to say "thank you" to the person who gave her more time to live. And that person was Otonashi, who donated his heart to her unknowingly before his death.

As Kanade asked Otonashi to say his feelings for her one more time, Victor squeezed his pillow even harder. With each "I love you" from Otonashi, Victor's grip on his pillow tightened to the point where the pillow was about to burst.

And then finally, the moment happened.

Kanade thanks Otonashi for giving her life, and disappears. Leaving Otonashi crying and yelling out to her. The final scene shows the tiny spark gently floating up away into the sky, symbolizing Kanade's soul finally being able to move on.

Victor's breathing was ragged. He blinked several times to clear his eyes so he could see the epilogue of the episode. Two young people in the real world, who resembles Otonashi and Kanade come across one another, and 'Otonashi' overhears 'Kanade' humming Iwasawa's _My Song._ He turns around to reach out to her just as she begins walking away…

And then the The End came up on screen. Episode is done.

Victor just stared at the paused video player for a few seconds before exiting full screen and turning off his laptop. He put his rumpled pillow back down on the bed before slumping down on his stomach.

That's it. He has finished the first anime he's ever watched, recommended by Liv. But why did he feel such emptiness inside? It was as if he wanted _more..._ he wanted a _happier ending._ Not that this ending was bad or anything, but it was just so...he couldn't describe it.

Tears filled up in his eyes and leaked down until it touched his comforter where he was resting his head upon. Done. Over. That's it.

Victor had never cried over a tv show, movie, or any sort of story before. Why was he crying now?

"Aw man, Liv! How am I supposed to go on!?"

* * *

 _Thursday. June. 13, 2013. Indoor ice rink._

Victor entered the arena with a down expression on his face as he carried his skating bag over to the area where Liv was sitting on the benches, waiting for him.

"Hey, you're here. Whoa, looks like a rain cloud superglued itself to your head." Liv remarked.

Victor barely nodded as he let out a tiny squeak from his throat. He gently sets his skating bag down on the bench, not saying a single word. Liv already knows what happened. She couldn't help but feel some joy from introducing something to Victor that would affect him this much.

"You saw the ending of _Angel Beats!_ right?" She confirmed.

When Victor put his head down, Liv opened her arms up to offer him a hug, which he immediately accepts. She patted him on the back in a motherly-fashion. He buried his head in her shoulder.

"I know. I felt this way the first time I watched it too. I went back to America for Christmas break and my old friend, Holly? Well, she's my best friend and we're both kind of anime-freaks. So, Holly was the one who showed me _Angel Beats!_ and boy, did I cry like a baby after I finished it with her. Anyways, that's my personal experience with this anime, but what about you, Victor? Have I got you into this whole new world?" Liv asked.

Victor mumbled like a little kid, "Tell this 'Holly,' that if I can't function normally anymore, it's all her fault."

Liv laughed.

 _Several minutes later on the ice…_

Liv finishes her stroking routine and Victor had somewhat recovered from being emotionally-unstable. Seeing Liv's skating again brought him back to reality. Liv's skating! That's right! He has finally watched the first anime on her list of anime! Now, she has got to show him her 2014 short program!

As Liv skates over to Victor, he immediately bombards her with this demand.

"Show me your short program! Now!"

It nearly knocked her onto the ice. But Liv regained her composure and decided to play along just a bit. "Are you sure? You're still a bit...vulnerable from the ending. My program's song comes directly from _Angel Beats!_ That's part of the reason why I put it as number one on the entire list."

Victor was about to tell her to just show him her entire program when he suddenly decides to rethink his decision in his mind. It has been five days since he watched the ending of the anime, and he still hasn't exactly gotten over it yet. From what he had googled, it takes about a week or more to finally get over the ending of _Angel Beats!_

So...maybe it's best to not see her entire program.

"Actually...on second thought, just show me a preview of the beginning. Yeah, you're right, I won't be able to emotionally handle whatever you're going to performing. So, yeah, go ahead and show me the beginning parts." Victor turned around to skate away.

Liv shook her head as she went over to the music booth and connected her phone to the audio system and adjusted the sound accordingly, not wanting a repeat of what happened the first time Victor tried to play a song on it. She pinpointed her song and called Victor over.

"By the way, I cut and pasted these osts together into a single song. So, it's not exactly a single song from the anime, but about three. Here, I named it 'Theme of Angel Beats.'" She pointed at the song on her screen to Victor.

He nodded at her to skate to her starting point on the ice as he placed a finger above the play button on her phone. Liv stops a little off center of the rink, and gently placed her arms and legs in her desired position. A few seconds later, Victor pressed the play button.

The piano introduction to _My Most Precious Treasure_ began to play. Liv gracefully took a few steps out of her start position and began a few simple turns and edges into backward crossovers. As she sped across the ice lightly yet powerfully, the music cuts into the climax of _Unjust Life_.

Liv goes onto her left back outside edge for her first jump. A combination of the triple lutz/double toe/double loop with the arms above the head variation. It was fast and nicely landed. Victor could see the tiniest smile on her face as she transitions to the opposite end of the rink for her next jump, the triple flip. Again, it was landed.

All of her strokes were smooth, even her jumps were transitions instead of individual elements. She was quiet, almost silent as she skated. The only sound being when she takes off and lands a jump. Victor kept his eyes attentive to every detail of her movement. Liv performs a few more crossovers and turns before suddenly stopping and signaling for Victor to stop the music as well.

He paused the song and unplugged the phone from the booth, skating over to Liv.

"So, that's basically the beginning part of my short program," Liv explained.

"It's very well-made. Compared to your past programs I've seen. You connect much more to this theme and concept. I like it. But it's just so...gentle!" Victor struggled to explain his thoughts. "You know what I mean? Maybe a little more 'attack' would be a nice addition, no?"

Liv shrugged. "Well, it's a work in progress. But other than that, I'm pretty much finished with my short program, just have to find something for my free skate. What about you, Victor?"

"Oh, I've already planned my short program a few days ago. And I'm sort of thinking of something for my free skate. But I'm not too sure." He confessed.

"Tell me about it. I'm pretty ok with music, maybe I can help?"

Victor waved his hand at her. "It's alright, I'll figure it out. Anyways, how about we work on triple/triple combinations today? Got to get back to the jumps!"

Liv groaned. "Great. I'm ready to die again, coach."

* * *

 _Friday. June. 14, 2013._

Ok, so today is obviously a 'pop the balloon' day for Victor. After a nearly successful week of practice, Friday decides to ruin it for him. It all started when he overslept and didn't have a proper breakfast, causing him to nearly hurl during the morning distance run.

And then after that, Yakov decided to put him in the weight room before on ice practice, exactly what Victor didn't want. But it only got worse from there. In the weight room, while working on pulling weights, Victor failed to adjust the number of weights properly and used more than he needed to for the workout.

So on the last set of his repetitions, he was tired and aching but decided to give it his all to finish it. But his all led to his doom. Just as pulled down the bar that was attached to the weights behind him, he felt a pain suddenly shoot through his shoulder.

His scream echoed throughout the building as did the sound of the weights dropping back down against the rest of the weights. Victor was immediately taken in for first aid treatment on a pulled muscle and sent home early. Yakov shook his head in disappointment.

Now it was the afternoon, and Victor never felt more bored on a Friday afternoon than he did since he began living on his own. Then it came to him, that day when Yakov sent him early from practice, he spent the time watching the first anime on Liv's list. Now, he can probably watch another one!

Going through his phone with his good arm, Victor looks at the entire list again. There were a few brackets next to some titles that Liv had noted on. A star was put next to number 11. HunterXHunter. _*11. HunterXHunter (This is a REALLY long series, but it's GOOD. Watch it when you have the time for it, otherwise it'll be really hard to finish…)_

 _3\. Attack on Titan (This just came out this year, it's plot, animation, music are epic!)_

 _15\. Fairy Tail (Again, another long series, and it's still continuing, but its pretty interesting…)_

And so on, so forth.

Eventually, Victor selected 4. Spirited Away, a Japanese film instead of a tv show. He was in the middle of the part where Chihiro was being snuck around the bathhouse to meet the witch in charge of it, hoping to get hired. And then the doorbell rang.

 _Ding Dong!_

Victor paused the film and put his laptop to sleep as Makkachin barked to get his attention from the living room. Victor ran to the foyer and peeked through the peephole in his door to see who it was.

Yakov stood outside with a neutral expression on his face. Victor quickly opened the door for him.

"Yakov! What a surprise! I thought you were staying at the rink until 6!" Victor exclaimed.

Yakov changed his shoes into the footwear Victor brought out of the closet for him. "Thank you. Anyways, practice ended early today due to some problems with one of the arenas. People came over to fix it, so we all left." He explained.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't exactly explain why you're visiting me for."

"You got hurt this morning, I need to make sure you're not doing anything stupid at home to worsen your minor injury," Yakov simply said.

Victor pouted. "Thanks for your trust in me." He stated sarcastically. "Oh, Yakov. Want anything to eat?"

Yakov nodded. "Sure." He sat down at the table in the living room as Makkachin came over and greeted him. Yakov gently patted him on the head.

Victor dug threw the fridge in search of something to quickly heat up. "Oh, this looks good."

He takes out some chicken nuggets from a bowl wrapped in plastic and put them in the microwave after removing the plastic wrap. Minutes later, Victor came out of the kitchen with a steaming bowl of chicken nuggets and a platter of ketchup to go with it.

Yakov began taking a few as he talked to Victor. "Listen, Victor. I've been thinking about it for awhile, but I don't know if I should pursue this."

Victor was confused. "What do you mean? Did I do something wrong?"

"Not exactly. But I've been wondering. What have you been doing lately? Last week, you seemed so distracted all the time, you couldn't land almost any of your jumps! You really scared me, Vitya! But this week...well you picked yourself up. But I don't want a repeat of what happened last time...ugh…" Yakov groaned.

Victor did his best to hide his nervousness and keep a calm, cool and collected face. "It's nothing Yakov, really. That just wasn't my best week. I'm sorry, maybe it's because of the fact that 2014 is the year of the Sochi Olympics, and this Nationals is really important."

Yakov nodded in agreement. "I guess you're right...ugh...oooh…"

Victor looked concerned. "Are you alright?"

Yakov meekly nodded. "Yeah...I'm going to need your washroom, though...where…?"

Victor pointed towards the area down the hall from the living room. Yakov sped over immediately, closing the door behind him. Victor checked the bowl of chicken nuggets again, sudden realization washed over him.

He knocked on the washroom door. Yakov answered. "What?"

"Uh...Yakov? Sorry to say this but...those chicken nuggets I heated…? They're kind of...over a week old…" Victor admitted.

"WHAT!?" Yakov boomed. "Do you have any idea how much pain my intestines are in right now? Victor? Do you!?"

Victor sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah! I'm so sorry, Yakov! Really, truly! Just...spend all the time you need to in the washroom, alright?"

"Get out of here!" Yakov's voice vibrated against the wooden door.

 _Several minutes later…_

Victor sat on his couch, reading magazines with Makkachin snuggled at his feet. When of course, Yakov called for him, again.

"VICTOR!"

Victor went running towards the washroom door again. "I'm here."

"There's no more toilet paper," Yakov answered.

A moment of silence dropped in. Victor tried his best not to laugh at the situation his coach is currently in as he thought hard as to where exactly he keeps extra toilet paper in the apartment. "Uh, ok! Hold on, Yakov! I got this! J—just hang on!"

Victor searched cabinets, closets, drawers, and in his personal washroom too for more toilet paper. But they were nowhere to be found. Finally, it came back to him. Extra toilet paper should be in the washroom Yakov is in! In the cabinet beneath the sink!

"Hey, Yakov! Can you reach the cabinet next to you? There might be more toilet paper in there!" Victor suggested.

"There is no way I can reach it from my position, Victor!"

"Ok...uh...well then, can I come in?" Victor asked without thinking.

"NO!" Yakov bellowed.

It was enough to blow Victor—and the whole apartment down with him. Victor stood there, frozen for a few moments, before finally being able to move again. "Alright then, is it ok if Makkachin goes in to look for you?" He asked.

Yakov quietly answered. "Fine."

Victor let Makkachin into the washroom and gave him specific commands to open the cabinet beneath the sink next to the toilet where Yakov was sitting on. But even after when Makkachin opened the cabinet, there was no sign of any toilet paper inside.

"Victor! There is no toilet paper! Find it!" Yakov demanded.

"Are you sure? Look around, Makka—"

"I'm telling you right now, this is a waste of time!" Yakov shouted.

Victor called Makkachin back out and gave him a couple of magazines and newspapers to bring back inside of Yakov. Makkachin dropped them on the sink counter next to Yakov before leaving the washroom.

Victor grabbed his wallet, jacket, and began putting on his shoes. "Yakov! My only solution is to go out and buy a new pack of toilet paper! Those newspapers and magazines should suffice in the meantime! I'll be back in 30 minutes, promise!"

With that, Victor went out the front door before he could even hear Yakov's complaint.

Yakov sighed in the washroom. "How did I get myself into this mess?"

* * *

 **I'm going to leave this chapter off at here, I'll continue on the adventure of Victor's search for toilet paper in the beginning of the next chapter. I really hope you guys are enjoying this story. If not then...it's ok, go read what you like. But if you do like this story, then I'd really appreciate it if you'd REVIEW! And FAVOURITE and FOLLOW!**

 **Thanks! And see you all next week!**


	14. Exposed!

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 ***Before YOI - Before events of Yuri On Ice**

 **This week has been by FAR, the most RELAXING week of the entire second semester! It was just absolutely awesome! I want MORE weeks like this! (But of course, that's not possible in grade 11, and even less possible in grade 12...;( Why me?) But hey, at least I got some more time to work on THIS chapter! That's right! I didn't have to finish this all on Friday after school this week!**

 **We continue this chapter off of what happened with poor Yakov in the ending of the last chapter. I'm also thinking of maybe slightly speeding the events a little so I could get to the parts that I feel like are more important in this backstory.**

 **And of course, return to the original timeline of this fanfic before chapter 8. But the majority of this story IS going to be the backstory, so even if I speed up the events a little, the backstory will still take up a lot of this fanfic (unless I decide to prolong the events after this backstory is finished...)**

 **Well, we'll just wait and see! :D**

 **We'll just wait and see! I hope y'all are enjoying this story!**

 **Please REVIEW if you did! And FAVOURITE and FOLLOW too!**

 **OH, AND ONE MORE THING:** **for all those readers who miss Yuri Katsuki, please tell me in the REVIEWS or PRIVATE MESSAGE me if you want a scene in the next chapter with Yuri and Victor from where I left off on chapter 8 before Victor's backstory began. I can make a quick jump back to that timeline and have Yuri talk about his feelings on the events of Victor's past and of course, about Liv. If you want that, please comment in the REVIEWS or PRIVATE MESSAGE me!**

* * *

 **Ch. 13: Exposed! (Before YOI)**

 _From where we left off in the last chapter…_

Victor rushed down the elevator and out to the parking lot where his car was located. Turning the engine on, he looked around to make sure the coast is clear before driving out of the building's property and onto the road towards the retail store.

Halfway there, Victor thought about how Yakov must be feeling sitting on the toilet reading a bunch of old newspapers and magazines with his feet getting numb…

"Hahahahaha!" He burst out laughing, not being able to contain it within him any longer. "Well, Yakov's not going to let me off the hook after this. Better not share this with anyone on Monday practice…"

Victor made it to the parking lot of the local retail store in a large plaza. It was a Friday afternoon, so finding a vacant parking space took awhile for him. But he finally found one, that was quite a distance from the entrance of the store.

Immediately upon entering, his eyes caught sight of the huge poster displaying a bunch of store items that were on discount for a limited time. _"70% off on the apples, bath towels, and—_ "mayonnaise!"

That's what caught Victor's attention. He's been wanting to buy mayonnaise for a long time but found all those prices to be ridiculously high for only a few small jars. But now, it's 70% off for one large jar of mayonnaise. He began speeding down towards the aisle for bread and other grain products. That's where the mayonnaise was.

As soon as Victor saw the shelves for mayonnaise, he nearly screamed. It was already almost completely empty! How many shoppers were that anxious to buy this spread too?

"Come on, come on! There's got to be a few left!" He cried as he looked up and down the shelves, pushing away a few other items to check if there were any hidden jars behind them.

Victor's searching grew more and more desperate, he wouldn't stop looking for the large glass jar with a blue label on it. Why isn't there any more left? There's gotta be more! At least one more!

"Victor?"

"Ah!" Upon hearing someone say his name, Victor jumped a little, accidentally pushing down a loaf of bread that he was about to push off to the side.

Liv stood behind him, pushing a shopping cart half-filled with food items and kitchen utensils. She was looking at him wide-eyed in shock. "What are you doing?"

"Oh hey, Liv! Just...trying to find a little something, don't worry about it. I got this. You just go back to your shopping." Victor waved his hand, attempting to sway Liv away.

But she didn't leave. "What are you looking for?"

Victor sighed. "Mayonnaise. It's 70% off! How amazing is that? But it's all freakin' sold out! God!" He resisted the temptation to give the shelf a good swift kick.

"Mayonnaise? Oh here, I have a jar." Liv dug the blue labeled glass jar out of her cart. "I got it only because it was on sale. But if you really want it, here."

Victor brightened upon seeing the sight of the very jar he's been looking for appear in Liv's hands but was uncertain whether to accept or not. "Omg, this is so beautiful! But, are you sure it's ok?"

"Go ahead and take it before you guilt trip yourself out of this opportunity." Liv pressed.

Victor took the jar out of Liv's hands and squeezed it before giving Liv a one-armed hug. "Thank you, my darling. You are an absolute angel." He said in a very fake sounding and exaggerated British accent.

"Yeah, uh...don't EVER use that accent again, please." Liv cringed as she began pushing her shopping cart down the aisle.

Victor stopped her. "Wait, what are you here for?"

"What does it look like I'm here for? I'm doing regular shopping. It's a Friday afternoon, I need to stock up for the weekends."

"I thought you were having financial issues, did you resolve them?"

Liv smiled brightly. "Yep! Found a part time job at a new music studio! I'm teaching rudiments and beginner piano!"

"Wow, that's great. How often are you working each week?"

"Uhh...Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays...from eleven to eight. And it's about $40 per hour…? I think?"

Victor shook his head at her uncertainness. "You really don't know a lot, do you?"

"I do!" She cried defensively. "I managed to find all these items in my cart without asking a clerk! I just need vegetable oil, squash, milk, and some snacks!"

With that, she hurried down to the end of the aisle before disappearing around the corner. Victor just stood there with his arms crossed, smiling to himself. "She'll be back. I can feel it. In five...four...three...two…"

Liv appeared around the corner again. "Say uh, Victor? Where exactly is the vegetable oil?"

* * *

 _Sometime later…_

Victor spent the afternoon helping Liv look for the items on her list. They went through different aisles, scanning the shelves, and upon finding the desired product, looked for the best one available. Although he would never admit it, Victor liked shopping as much as a female.

This isn't entirely his fault though. Growing up as an only child, he didn't have a lot of male role models due to his father always being absent from home. He was more close to his mother, and so spent more time with her. Now his mother loved to go out and buy all sorts of stuff, but only the best of the best.

She was like a professional shopper! And by just spending most of his time growing up with his mother, Victor picked up some of her habits and skills. He became very critical when it came to examining objects and other products. Which ones looked the best, had the best quality, the best performance.

Which ones were the most "beautiful" in his eyes. And now, he uses his critical eye when looking at things in everyday life too, and not just store items. Outdoor landscapes, books and films, animals, and of course, people.

Liv's critical eye was more based on an artistic point of view, her opinion of "beauty" is related to something deeper. Something that only she could see. And now, Victor can see it too. But it's not good enough. He needs to get everyone to see it. The art that Liv can bring to them.

Until then, he will continue to coach her. And then hopefully, Angela Raskalov will get better from chemotherapy treatment and will be able to resume her rightful position as Liv's true coach. But Angela doesn't even know about this little coaching thing, or does she? Maybe Liv already told her about it.

"Hey, Liv?" Victor asked.

"Yeah?" Liv was looking at a large box of granola bars but nodded to show that she was listening. "What is it?"

"Does Angela know about me yet?"

Liv nearly dropped the box she was holding. "HOLY. SHIT. No, she does not! What am I supposed to tell her? 'Hey, Angela. Oh, remember how I was telling you that I might be going back to America? Well, I changed my mind, because the legendary Victor Nikiforov decided to take your spot for awhile. So that's what going on right now. Bye-bye.'"

Victor held his stomach due to his strenuous laughter. "Yeah, sure! Go ahead and tell her that, and let's see what happens afterward!" He contained himself. "But seriously, though. You should tell her."

Liv shrugged. "I guess I should. But that brings up another thing I've been wanting to ask you for awhile. Victor, how much are you coaching fees? I mean, it's been a long time since you began coaching me, but I haven't paid you a single cent! And this doesn't sit right with me."

"You can worry about that after the Nationals. And bring back the gold medal from it too!" He grinned.

"Ehh...I'm leaning more towards third or fourth. But, that's a good thought." Liv grabbed a new box of granola bars and placed it in her shopping cart.

Victor put back the previous box that she was holding onto the shelf. "Not a thought. It will happen! You'll see!"

Liv didn't answer immediately. She just looked down at her cart and smiled a tiny smile. "Anyways...thanks for helping me with finding all my items here. I'll continue by myself from here on out."

"Wait, you still need to go to other places too?"

"Sort of. I need to replace a few of my bathroom stuff and I also need a new USB for school." Liv explained. "But you don't need to come along, don't you have other stuff to do to?"

Victor scratched the back of his head. Does he have other stuff to do to? Wait a minute...was there originally something he was planning on doing before? Why did he even come out here in the first place?

"But of course, if you're busy, I'm ok with that. My car broke down again and is in repair right now, but I can manage with the city transit—"

"We can use my car." Victor almost immediately answered.

 _Seconds later…_

Liv looked around the familiar passenger seat she was sitting in, feeling a little nervous and guilty at the same time. "Come on, Victor, it's Friday! Won't you want to spend some enjoyment time? I don't want to be a bother."

"This _is_ enjoyment time. Better than being bored and clueless in my apartment." Victor started his engine. "Alright, now where to?"

 _3 hours later…_

After going from store to store, looking for bath towels that weren't too expensive and were large enough to suit Liv's needs, Victor helped her look for her other essentials. Which included handsoap, detergent, conditioner (which he very much enjoyed looking for), and more.

Finding the necessary items was easy. Finding an acceptable price for them, was hard. Even though Liv has a part time job now, she is still being very careful with her spending. Despite Victor's complaining about her 'frugal' ways, she would always retort with the threat of being broke before the Nationals even came around.

And of course, that meant no chance at even competing there. So, Victor had to drive around the city, looking for a good retail store that had low, low, low prices. And every time they found something that was considered 'cheap' by Liv, she would reject it because it failed to meet her expectations in quality.

But they still managed to find good deals for each of her essential items, even though it took a lot of time and patience on Victor's part. In the end, it was worth it to see Liv relax. Hopefully, after all of this, she would be less nervous about her money problems.

All of the driving around and looking for retail stores allowed Victor to explore new parts of the city that he had never been to before. It was like being in a whole different neighborhood. It felt refreshing to him. He barely got out and enjoyed himself like this.

And it felt even better to be doing all of this exploring with someone else. Sharing the experience is always better in his opinion. By the time Liv found a new USB stick, the evening was beginning to start. Victor checked his watch.

"Liv, it's almost 6. Do you have your USB?" He asked.

"Yeah, just let me pay for it at the cash register."

Walking over to the cash register for the small electronics store, Liv fished out her wallet and credit card. The cashier smiled as he checked out the package containing Liv's desired USB stick and directed for her to enter her card through the terminal.

After printing out the receipt and wishing her a 'good rest of your day,' they exited the store and walked towards Victor's car. He drove them all the way to Liv's building. From there, he helped her carry her items up to her apartment. It was the most she has ever shopped for in awhile, and she was very happy about it.

"Thanks for helping out today. I had fun, even though it took a long time." Liv said as she placed the last of her bags down onto her kitchen floor.

"No problem, I had fun too. It beats spending it all by myself."

Liv opened the fridge and began placing her individual groceries into its rightful spots. "Hey, Victor. Can you bring me my hairband from my bedroom? It's on my dresser, and it's black. You shouldn't miss it."

"Ok." Victor turned around and walked towards the one bedroom of this apartment complex. Turning on the lights, he saw something that he wished he never saw.

The 'thing' turned around slowly as if it was waiting for someone to enter the room. It had large bulging eyes on either side of its head and giant balloon-like 'thingies' underneath them! It was by far, the creepiest thing that Victor had ever seen! It swam around the tiny glass bowl on the wooden chest and opened its mouth as if it was trying to curse him or something!

"AHHH! LIV!"

She came rushing down the hall. "What is it!? What's the emergency!?"

He barely pointed a finger at the creature inside the glass bowl with balloon-sac eyes. "That poor animal has mutated into this horrible appearance."

Liv sighed. "That's not a mutt, Victor. That's my pet goldfish, Bubby."

"That poor goldfish has caught some kind of viral eye infection!"

"No! It's a _bubble eye goldfish_! Google it yourself! It's supposed to look like that! It's not an infection!" Liv cried. "Oh, and one more thing: don't you insult my pet again! Not every single animal looks a certain way! How would you like it if I freaked out over Makkachin because he's a brown-coated poodle?"

Victor realized she was right. As creepy as Liv's bubble eye goldfish looked, it was wrong to point it out in a disrespectful manner. He slowly walked into the bedroom and grabbed the black hairband lying on top of the dresser before handing it to Liv. She tied her hair up into a messy bun.

"Well, at least you know what a bubble eye goldfish is now." Liv headed back to the kitchen.

Victor followed cautiously behind. "Hehe, yeah. Sorry."

"Mm. Well, you had the decency to apologize, I guess I can ask you now if you want to stay for dinner. This time, _I'll_ be the one making it."

"Really? But that's ok, besides, if you are, then I'll have to ask you to make some more so I can take home some for Makkachin." Victor admitted.

"That's ok, he must be lonely. You've been out all Friday afternoon. He must expect something from you when you go back home."

Victor shook his head. "Nah, he isn't lonely. He's got Yak—OH MY GOD! YAKOV!" Immediately, memories raced back into his head. Of Yakov eating expired chicken nuggets and having a huge stomachache, of running out of toilet paper, of promising to go out and buy more toilet paper in just _30 MINUTES._

How long has it been? Victor ran around in circles, trying to get his head all sorted out. Liv was startled by Victor's sudden outburst and attempted to find out what's wrong. "What about Yakov, Victor? Did you do something wrong?"

"Geugh...Liv! We bought some toilet paper today, right?" Victor confirmed.

Liv nodded. "I got four new packages, they're over in that bag by the corner—"

"Alright, do you mind if I take one?"

"What? No, sure, go ahead." Liv gestured.

Victor rushed forward and grabbed one package of toilet paper and ran towards the foyer of the apartment, putting on his shoes again. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm sorry, but I can't stay! I just remembered something really important! Gotta go, bye!"

 _Back at Victor's apartment._

Yakov's entire bottom and legs and feet had grown numb by now! Makkachin was fast asleep on the couch out in the living room. The sky outside was beginning to darken. "VICTOR 'WHATEVER YOU'RE MIDDLE NAME IS' NIKIFOROV, IT'S BEEN 3 FUCKING HOURS!"

"I'M COMING!" Victor cried from his car all the way in the parking lot of Liv's building. He began speeding back to his apartment like a madman. There's no way Yakov's going to let him off the hook after this. No fucking way.

* * *

 _Monday. June. 17, 2013. St. Petersburg Ice Rink_

Victor attempted to wave at Yakov again from the opposite end of the rink. But of course, Yakov just gave him the cold shoulder and focused on working with Max on his jumps. Victor cringed internally at the thought of Yakov never letting go of that horrible experience back last Friday.

He returned to his own practice. But it was difficult concentrating on jumps and spins when his entire head was filled up with the image of his coach sitting on the porcelain throne looking like he's about to blow up like the atomic bomb of 1942.

Still, Victor tried to land his jumps, mainly his quadruple toe loops. He's been leaving them out for awhile, and they've gotten weaker. Strong skaters need to maintain their level on all of their jumps, and not favor some over the others. After landing another quadruple toe loop, Victor decided to enter the jump on a different entrance.

He enters it from a left outside three-turn before switching feet onto the right back outside edge and then planting his toe pick into the ice. He brought his arms and body around as his skate made contact with the ice, and pulled in tight into the backspin position.

Rotating four times, Victor lands the jump on two feet. He groaned. Entering the toe loop from that entrance wasn't the best choice. Well, at least he found that out today and not later. After finishing up with the rest of his jumps, he moved onto edges and turns. The basic skating skills.

That's right, the basics are very important. Without them, further skills down the path of skating will be affected. It's what separates the strong skaters from the good skaters. Anybody can jump and spin, but not everybody can skate with stability. And only certain people can see that stability.

Looking around him, Victor examined the movements of every single one of his rink mates currently present. Practicing his new short program, was Constantine, who had a very mature skating style. And it reflected his personality well. Constantine was considered one of the 'older' skaters here, even though he and Victor are around the same age.

From what Victor sees, Constantine is a strong skater. Every time he takes the ice, there wasn't this feeling of fear that he would completely break down and fall on every single one of his jump. Victor had a different sense of mature. He aimed for his programs to be more daring and contrasting, while Constantine's was more sophisticated.

Max lands an enormous triple axel with Yakov standing close by and filming the whole jump. Now Max was a year younger than Victor, and man, was he good-looking— _nope! Gotta stop my head from thinking up those crazy fantasies!_

Anyways, Max was an up and down skater. There were days when he would perform outstandingly and days when he would end up in sixth place or lower. Max's focus had always been on his jumps. To him, if jumps are no good, then winning is impossible. Which is true to an extent, Max had strong jumps, now if he could land them 24/7, then he would probably be able to stand next to Victor on the podium.

As for Laurel Kopeykin, well, she was older than Victor and is also considered a veteran in ladies' figure skating. Laurel's style changes each season, from subtle and quiet to cheerful and childish. But no matter what, she's able to embody what she wants to represent, and that's why she's known for her high program component scores.

And then, of course, there was Yuri Plisetsky, the newest junior skater who managed to make it to this rink in preparation for the big leagues. Yuri P. was a one of a kind. Unlike most other junior skaters, Yuri P. actually took some time to work on his basic skating skills too, and not just jumps and spins.

So compared to other skaters of the junior division, Yuri P. already skates like a senior, the only problem is his ability to express. He was very distant when performing, there was almost no sense of connection between his movements and the music or the audience. But other than that, Yuri P. had nearly the entire package.

The practice was over several minutes later and the skaters all cleared the ice as the Zamboni appeared. Victor left the change room after packing up his skating bag and grabbing all of his belongings. Walking towards the front entrance, Victor stopped by the empty snack bar to check his phone. There were several texts from Liv.

 _Liv: Hey, how're things between you and Yakov? Still mad at u? ;)_

 _Liv: It's sort of my fault too, I distracted u from buying the toilet paper. I'd tell u to tell him I'm sorry, but then he'd find out about you being my coach_

 _Liv: I'm going to tell Angela about you this weekend when I go visit her. Wish me luck._

Victor was about to text Liv back when he felt the sudden urge to go the washroom. Not wanting to take everything into the stalls with him, Victor left his skating bag and phone on an empty snack table. Then he rushed down the hall to the nearby washroom. From the opposite end of the hall, Yakov appeared and noticed the table with a giant skating bag on top.

He immediately recognizes it as Victor's and decided to see where that absolute-good-for-nothing-but-still-his-top-skater disappeared to. "Ahh...always forgetting things. It's not safe leaving his stuff out here in the open, especially with his phone right in full view! Wait...what is this…?"

 _A minute later…_

Victor exited the washroom, shaking his wet hands-free from water. Looking up, he nearly jumped when he saw Yakov sitting by the table where Victor had left his items on. Yakov had an expression on his face that gave Victor a bad feeling.

"Hey, Yakov! I'm glad we can finally talk now!" Victor exclaimed, trying to sound calm.

Yakov tilted his head. "Yes, I'm glad we can finally talk. That we can finally tell each other what's been going on in each of our lives."

Victor nodded fiercely. "Well, I can name a few. This weekend, I made a chocolate cupcake! It's really delicious, and it didn't get burnt this time! I think this is definitely an improv—"

"Great, that's great, Victor. Now, tell me about your little coaching life." Yakov stated flatly.

Victor's smile stuck on his face. "My what?"

Yakov was not smiling. "Just how long did you think you could hide this from me? Huh?" He took out Victor's cell phone displaying Liv's texts on its screen.

Victor tried to grab it in a panic. "Yakov! Just wait, don't jump to conclusions!" He yanked his phone out of his coach's hand and turned it off.

"Alright, fine then, I'll listen. Tell me about this." Yakov sat with his back up straight and his eyes glued to Victor's, imitating that of a young student paying attention to his teacher. Victor felt a break of sweat form on the back of his neck.

"You see, Yakov, as a skater, I know how difficult it is to earn high scores and to be appreciated as a talented skater. So obviously, when I see a skater whose skills are not being admired, I'd want to help, right?" Victor made sure Yakov wasn't going to stop him before continuing on. "Liv is that skater. I see something in her that people fail to notice nowadays in skating. I want to bring it back."

"So you decide to all of this in secret, without asking me first if this was ok or not." Yakov countered.

"Well—ye—I—well, even I did come to you back then, would you have even let me?" Victor asked.

"No," Yakov said it with such certainty that it even shocked Victor. But he was not willing to give up.

"When did you even meet this 'Liv?' Was it last week? Maybe two weeks ago?" Yakov asked.

"Two months ago. In March, the week after we returned from the World Championships."

Yakov's jaw dropped. "You've been hiding this for that long!? If it was for a few weeks I'd be slightly lighter on you, but _months_!? No wonder you've been failing to improve! You've been so distracted lately! I was not wrong on my assumption!"

"Those two months were the best times of my life! I'm starting to understand more about your point of view too, Yakov. From a coach's perspective, the best feeling in the world is seeing your student achieve something great. Isn't it?"

That touched Yakov deep within. There was some truth in Victor's words. But that didn't help the fact that he was hindering his own practice time. "I'm glad you understand my perspective, Victor. But you're forgetting something. Coaches want what's best for their student, and right now, I'm telling you that if you continue 'coaching' this 'Liv,' then your career will be going downhill!"

"Then what about Liv's career? Ever since she came to this country, it's been beating her to a pulp until she's on the brink of calling it quits! Is that what skating is nowadays, Yakov? Is it? I can salvage her career!"

"At the cost of your own!"

Victor opened his mouth to defend himself but Yakov beat to it. "And don't pretend that I don't know who Liv is. The minute I saw her last name, I already knew. Olivia Nguyen is _Angela Raskalov's_ student, not yours. I understand that Angela is currently sick and unable to coach, but that Olivia could've gone to available substitute coaches if she wanted to compete in the next season."

"She doesn't need a substitute coach, Yakov! What she needed was a friend. Someone who made her feel like she belongs here like she matters, someone who made her smile. I already told you that she was about to call it quits on her skating career here, but I stepped in and encouraged her to fight." Victor explained.

Yakov crossed his arms. "Fight what?"

"Fight all the underscoring, the unfair judging, and the silent prejudice. You may not see it, Yakov, heck, even I didn't see it if it wasn't for Liv! But the figure skating system is corrupting. First, they take out the artistry, then they score based on well-liked you are, and finally, they make the audience believe the scores given to skaters are universal and true. Kind of sad, no?"

A moment of silence passed through. Yakov didn't admit it, but he has been noticing a lot of this lately, he was just going along with it like it was nothing, he just assumed that if skating was going down this path, then that means the skaters and coaches will have to follow, otherwise, they'll be fighting against the current.

But that didn't stop him from thinking it was wrong. "I get what you mean, Victor. But the bottom fact is that we can't do much to change things. So we'll have to go with the flow, and right now, you're still in the lead, the last thing I want for to happen is that you've fallen in the next Grand Prix Final. If you do, nobody's going to let you forget it. Ever."

"So that's it? Just stick to this? I thought I was winning fair and square back then, but now, I just don't know anymore…" Victor mumbled.

"Those gold medals were earned by you! You made those judges hand them to you! Because you knew how to work this system! And now, you're trying to go against it. Don't. Victor." Yakov warned.

"My motto is 'taking risks.' Not only in my programs, but in life too. And that's what I'm going to do." Victor said seriously.

Yakov had heard enough. "Victor, you are NOT coaching Olivia anymore, and that is FINAL! DO NOT. Make me do something that I will regret." Yakov's voice had a very _finalized_ tone to it.

If Victor didn't do something now, he won't be able to do anything after this. So he suggested the only thing that might be able to change Yakov's mind.

"I think you need to see her skate."

* * *

 _Later that day…_

Victor dialed Liv's cell phone number inside of his apartment. The ringtone rang twice before Liv finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Liv, it's me," Victor answered.

"Oh, hi! What's up?"

"Sigh, I don't how to explain this, but...I'm just going to get to the point. We've been exposed."

"By who? Your coach?" Liv sounded a little nervous.

"You should be in clairvoyance because you're right. And he wants me to stop coaching you. What're your thoughts on that?"

Heavy breathing was heard over the speaker, Victor sensed slight anxiousness on the other end. Liv finally answered.

"I—I don't want you to go…" She admitted.

Victor felt warmness just burst inside of him when she said that. "I don't want to end this either. But listen, I made a sort of solution. I told him to see you skate first, and then make his final judgment."

"You what!?" Liv sounded like she was having a panic attack.

"Hey, hey, calm down. It's ok, he said he'll give us a week. So we got time to work on your short program. I believe in you, if he sees you skate, he'll understand why I'm helping you. Trust me, I know Yakov. He's not like those Nationals and ISU judges, he'll be able to actually see your skating." Victor assured.

Still heavy breathing on the other end, but it was slightly less hoarse than previously. "My short program, right? To _Theme of Angel Beats_?"

Victor nodded. "That one."

"Then I got work ahead of me."

* * *

 **So yeah, Victor's secret coaching life has been exposed by Yakov. Never leave your phones out kids! Even in places where you think no one will look at it! Now, Liv's going to have to perform a perfect short program for Yakov to approve of Victor being her coach. And then, of course, Angela's going to have to know about it too soon.**

 **But hey, they were bound to be exposed sooner or later. So there we go!**

 **OH, AND ONE MORE THING (Second time for good measure):** **for all those readers who miss Yuri Katsuki, please tell me in the REVIEWS or PRIVATE MESSAGE me if you want a scene in the next chapter with Yuri and Victor from where I left off on chapter 8 before Victor's backstory began. I can make a quick jump back to that timeline and have Yuri talk about his feelings on the events of Victor's past and of course, about Liv. If you want that, please comment in the REVIEWS or PRIVATE MESSAGE me!**

 **See you all next week!**


	15. Chasing Stars

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **So I read a couple of your reviews from the last chapter, and from the looks of it, my assumptions were pretty accurate. So from now on, I'll be writing chapters that include more Yuri and Victor and I will show events of the past when it's necessary. I'll try to speed things up a little so I can get this backstory done.**

 **I know not all of you guys like OCs, but I kind of already planned out this entire story and I don't exactly want to change a whole bunch of elements. So my best compromise is to not focus solely on the backstory alone, but use it as a sort of side plot. I don't know how well that's going to turn out, but hopefully, that'll satisfy the thirst for Victuri fans out there (including myself tbh...)**

 **I finished this chapter a little earlier this time because this is my long Easter weekend! Hooray! :D And best of all: NO HOMEWORK for me!**

 **Now, to make this weekend even better, you guys will have to REVIEW (so I'll know how to write these chapters from now!), FAVOURITE and FOLLOW if you haven't already!**

* * *

 **Ch. 14: Chasing Stars**

 _Tues. Dec. 27, 2016. St. Petersburg. Outdoor Ice Rink._

Yuri wrapped the extra scarf Victor had on him to keep himself warm from a sudden chilly breeze. It's been quite some time since they reunited and sat down on the bleachers next to each other to talk. Hearing parts of Victor's backstory allowed Yuri to understand more about what exactly was going on inside of Victor before their argument.

But Yuri still didn't understand why Victor would be so upset when he first mentioned Olivia—Liv. Did something happen between them? Did they end things on a bad note? Yuri was never in a romantic relationship with anyone prior to Victor, so he doesn't know how these things exactly work.

But he saw and heard enough from other people that he knows, are in or had been in romantic relationships before. And ending that relationship on a bad note, well it could lead to locking oneself inside of their bedroom for an entire month with nothing but tears to drink and ice cream to eat.

Another chilly breeze blew through the air and Yuri tightened the scarf around his neck along with his jacket. Victor scooched closer and wrapped an arm around Yuri's opposite shoulder to pull him in closer towards him. Yuri felt the warmth of Victor's body radiate onto him, and his own body's temperature slowly rising from within.

"Getting cold?" Victor asked.

"Nah, just my jacket. I was not prepared to sit out here for God knows how long." Yuri attempted to check his phone only to realize its battery had already died. "But I'm glad I'm here. Um…"

Victor sighed in a low breath. "Am I boring you with my horrible storytelling skills?"

Yuri shook his head choppily. "NO! I told you that I'd listen to everything you have to say. And I am."

"Well, and what do you have to say about it?"

Yuri bit his lip. This was difficult to him. What does he have to say about Victor's past events? What about it? Well, he was curious as to what happened in the end with Liv, but he knew that that would probably make Victor uncomfortable and sensitive again.

Other than that, Yuri also wanted to know more details about how deep this relationship between Victor and Liv went into. He remembered back in the game of twenty questions, Chris asked about whether or not if Victor "had slept with her." And Victor said "yes."

But Victor also slept with _him_ that night after the NHK Trophy free skate event! Maybe Yuri shouldn't ask questions about the relationship between Liv and Victor, other than their unofficial coach and student one.

"So Liv, she seems...pretty special, from the way you described her. What happened after Yakov discovered about you coaching her? Did he get to see her perform her short program?" Yuri asked.

"Mmhmm." Victor nodded. "I remember it all so well. That was my first time seeing her entire short program to _Theme of Angel Beats_ too. We worked so hard during that one week to make it count when Yakov judged it. Liv was like you, Yuri back when you were preparing to compete against Yurio for me. She was ready to break under that pressure."

Yuri knew that feeling all too well. The feeling of losing your idol/hero if you mess up this one chance. And he had to go through that when competing against Yurio for mentorship of Victor. And in the end, Yuri managed to get Victor to remain by his side as his coach and his...lover?

"I'd like to see her short program too. I'm also a fan of _Angel Beats_ myself." Yuri admitted.

Victor lit up. "Really!? Yuri, why didn't you tell me? I would've ordered that online Kanade throw pillow for your birthday!"

"But I already have the Colossal Titan throw pillow! I don't think I need another one!" Yuri countered. "But, I don't mind having a _Your Lie in April_ music box."

"Oh my god, I love _Your Lie in April_! That ending was... _sniff_ , I can't say it…" Victor brought his hands to his face, while Yuri rolled his eyes and patted him on the back. After bringing himself back together, Victor stood up again and pulled Yuri with him.

"The next time I see a _Your Lie in April_ music box, I'm getting it for you. Now, come on. You said you wanted to see Liv's short program. Well, there's no wifi out here, so we'll go over to my place." Victor grinned.

Victor's apartment? That's...the first time Yuri will be there. So what does that mean? Isn't going over to your boyfriend's—er, good friend's home a step up from your current relationship? That usually means you're now closer, right? Oh well, new things are happening all the time now.

Might as well go with the flow. Yuri helped Victor grab his belongings from the bleachers and place it in the trunk of his car before entering the passenger seat and letting Victor drive them out of the parking lot towards his home.

The entire trip was spent talking about their favorite scenes from _Your Lie in April_ and whether or not they felt bad for Tsubaki. Victor turned onto the smaller street that led to his building's parking lot.

"You have to feel somewhat bad for Tsubaki! I mean, it's unrequited love! I just...I can't feel unsympathetic towards her!" Victor shouted as he parked in his designated spot.

Yuri sighed. "I get your point of view. But Kousei & Kaori are just meant for each other, you know? I'd feel worse for Tsubaki if Kaori's chemistry with Kousei wasn't so amazingly written. And that confession during the fireflies scene? So touching with that song playing the background! What's that song called?"

Victor unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car before answering Yuri's question. "My Truth: Rondo Capriccioso." He went to the trunk to grab his skating bag.

Yuri did the same. "Thanks." They walked side by side towards the front entrance of the large modern-looking building. After getting off at the right level from the elevator, Victor led Yuri down the hall towards his apartment complex and unlocked the door, revealing the large interior and an excited Makkachin.

Victor knelt down to greet his pet. Yuri patted Makkachin on the head shortly after. After discarding their outdoor apparel, Victor grabbed his laptop from his desk and made a comfortable spot on the couch for Yuri to sit down upon. Yuri couldn't help but feel slightly out of place in this environment, after all, this was his first time here.

The only thing that felt familiar was Victor and Makkachin, but everything else was foreign to him. So Yuri kept him to himself and didn't touch as many items as he wanted to. Victor bounced onto the couch next to him and turned his laptop on.

"I have a saved video of one of her _Theme of Angel Beats_ short program. Ah, here it is…"

* * *

 _Monday. June. 24, 2013. After practice hours in the St. Petersburg Ice Rink._

Victor paced back and forth in front of a stressed Yakov who's sitting on one of the lobby benches with a cup of cold coffee. The rink was now closed for regular skaters, but Yakov managed to arrange somethings with the complex's manager to keep one of the arenas open during this time.

All for Liv's performance. She said that she would arrive around 6:25, but it's been over 3 minutes by now. Even though it didn't seem that long, it felt like 3 hours to Victor. It's been a while since he felt this nervous. And it wasn't even him who's going to be judged!

Yakov was about to complain about where Liv is when a new car suddenly entered the parking lot and out ran a female figure carrying a large skating bag over her shoulder. She entered the front doors and into the lobby where Victor and Yakov were.

Victor nodded at her in acknowledgment and gave a small smile. Liv turned to Yakov and offered him her hand to shake. He politely took it.

"Olivia Nguyen, nice to meet you," she introduced in a breathless tone, showing that she was in a rush to get here.

"Yakov Feltsman, Victor here, told a bit about what's going on. I don't want any excuses or defenses, I just want to see what you two have achieved. Forgive me if I sound a bit demanding, but as Victor's coach, I simply want what's best for him. And that means weeding out anything that may affect his performance next season." Yakov explained.

Victor felt bad for Liv being put on the spot. But there wasn't anything he could do now. They've done all they could over the past week on working on the short program. Now, it's all up to her.

Liv gulped slightly. "O—of course, sir. I understand." She mumbled.

Yakov nodded. "Good, let's get you on the ice."

After going to the female's changeroom to put on her skates and change into her warm-up outfit, Liv goes onto the large empty ice rink and began with some simple stroking to get the feel of this new environment. It's been a long time since she was in a rink as professional as this one.

But this rink was much larger and more pristine than her previous one. It felt intimidating, but exciting at the same time. After a few more minutes, Liv nodded to Victor that she's ready to begin her short program. She hands Yakov her phone which he plugs into the stereo system and prepares to press the play button.

Before Liv skates away, Victor called for her attention. "Hey, you got this. This isn't the Nationals or Worlds, or even the Olympics. This is an ice show, so don't compete. Just perform."

Liv gave him a weak thumbs up and then skated to the center of the rink where she would begin her short program. After going into her start position, Yakov pressed the play button for her song to begin.

Once again, _My Most Precious Treasure_ started off the entire program. Liv immediately went into character as she skated her opening transitions into her first jump combination, triple lutz/double toe/double loop.

 _Unjust Life_ begins playing as she takes off into the triple lutz, rotating nice and tight before landing and continuing off her edge into her two double jumps. Victor felt a huge weight lift off his chest, the first combination was a success. Thank god for Liv's consistency!

Skating in time with the emotional music to the other end of the rink, Liv prepared for her next jump, the triple flip. Her entrance into the jump was strong but her landing was a bit under-rotated. Still, she managed to hang on.

Liv's spiral sequence came up next, and this time, she's not stopping right after. She continues on to finish her program. Victor doesn't know how things will go from here on out. It's new territory.

As Liv ends her Y-spiral, _Theme of SSS_ begins playing from the ending of _Unjust Life_. The soft beginning piano part echoed throughout the empty ice rink as she built up speed into a layback Ina Bauer.

That Ina Bauer lead into her final jump for this program, the double axel. From the stereo system area, Yakov watched with interest gradually building up inside of him. This type of music was new to him, but it seemed pretty well suited with Liv. It wasn't classical but it wasn't contemporary either.

Liv lands a nice strong double axel, earning a small clap from Yakov. The piano begins to grow more intense as she enters a series of three turns into the flying death drop sitspin.

The second she lands on her toe pick and began spinning, the fast violin part of the song began playing, which matched the speed of her rotations. Liv added variations to the sitspin before exiting into her second spin, her personal favorite, the layback.

Victor enjoyed seeing Liv's layback, it was very pleasant to watch. Not many female skaters have the nice classic layback position with the turned out foot and leg parallel to the ice. Liv switched into sideways layback then the catch foot and ends it with a bielmann.

The song gets more and more energetic as Liv enters her circular footwork sequence. Every stroke, turn, and half jump was done in time with the music. She embodied the emotions behind the program strongly.

 _Angel Beats was about a group of teenagers who aren't able to let go of their past lives and move onto their afterlife._

 _Before death, they thought they were going to be able to achieve a lot, they had hopes and dreams. But after death, those hopes and dreams were left unfulfilled._

 _Leading them to rebel against their fate and fight against the one who controls their fate: God. And because they thought Kanade was an angel of God, they fought against her._

Liv puts all of her energy from the end of the sequence into the final combination spin, starting with the forward camel. The music had reached its climax. She goes into a cannonball before changing foot and then finishing it off with an upright I-spin. The piano plays the main theme one last time before ending it all, and Liv brings her arms up above her gently.

 _But in the end, they're all able to get past their communication error and fix things up. They are finally able to accept their life and find peace and ascend to heaven._

Victor and Yakov both clapped as Liv caught her breath and slowly skated to the edge of the rink. Yakov came over, handing her her phone and nodding. Victor patted her on the back, smiling like crazy.

"That was beautiful! So much better than your previous programs, honestly!"

Liv wiped some sweat off her forehead. "You really think so? What about you, Yakov?"

Yakov took his hands out of his pockets and sighed. He closed his eyes for awhile before opening them again and answering Liv.

"Your program was well choreographed and practiced. But there are individual parts you need to work on. Such as power in your strokes, speed, and your jumps. They're the tiniest jumps I've ever seen!" Yakov confessed.

Liv felt herself heat up and her heart palpitating. Victor felt the same thing inside of him. Come on, Yakov! Talk about good things too at least!

As if he could read minds, Yakov answered. "But...they are mostly clean and you can land them even under pressure. And...you have good expression in your skating, it's hard to tear your eyes from your performance. That's all."

Victor gestured for him to continue, liking where this is going. "And…? Can this coaching thing go on?"

Several seconds of silence passed. It was the one if worst waits the three of them had ever experienced. Yakov put his hands back into his pockets and faced Liv.

"Inform your coach, Angela first—"

"I will! I was originally going to go last weekend but then this thing came up so—"

Yakov brought a hand up. "Let me finish. After Angela knows about this, you will continue practicing by yourself for the rest of this summer."

Victor's jaw dropped. "What!? I thought you were impressed—"

Yakov stomped his right foot, hard. "Will you let me goddamn finish!? _Sigh_ , Victor's goal right now is the Grand Prix Series and then the Nationals for a spot on the Sochi Olympic team. I can't let him disregard his own training.

"But...as soon as the Grand Prix Final is over, he'll work with you for the time before the Nationals come up. And if Angela doesn't get discharged by that time, then I'll represent her for you at that competition and whatever competition you'll be assigned to afterward."

Victor was shocked, it wasn't the answer he was hoping for but it was still a compromise, and he could accept that. Liv though was quite happy with this answer. To her, it was better than no season.

"Thank you, sir!" She shakes Yakov's hand with both of her own. "This is all I really need…"

Yakov smiled microscopically at the young woman. "Your welcome, Olivia. Next time, just 'Yakov,' alright? Now go get changed, this rink is already closed."

After removing her skates and changing back into her outfit that she came in, Liv left the arena with Victor walking next to her, a hand squeezing her shoulder.

"You did it! You saved this little coaching thing!" He exclaimed.

"I only did it to really make this performance count…"

"Still, you also saved your own career. Don't you see? This should be celebrated over!" Victor threw his arms into the air.

Liv kept on walking. "I wish. But we should start getting our goals straight. The competitive season will begin in more than a month, all of our eyes will be on the gold. But only the one who trained hard enough will get it."

Victor crossed his arms and smiled. "We'll just wait and see. Good luck on your training."

Liv turned around to wave goodbye before running to her car. "And good luck on yours."

* * *

 _Tues. Dec. 27, 2016. Victor's apartment._

Victor exited the video player and turned to Yuri, expecting an answer of some sort. Yuri blinked twice before realizing that Victor was waiting for him to speak.

"What? Oh! I, uh...that was really good, she's really good. So, what happened next?" Yuri asked.

Victor scratched his head. "Well...let's see. Ah, right! Liv got sick later on that week so I had to go and visit Angela in her place. And boy, it was pretty awkward…"

Yuri sat up straighter on the couch that he was gradually sinking into. "Oh yeah? Did Angela take it well that you were secretly stealing one of her students?"

Victor looked at Yuri with a fake offended look and dramatically brought a hand to his chest. "'Stealing?' What a horrible choice of words! I prefer the term, 'private tutoring.'"

Yuri tilted his head to the side. "Eh...there's not much of a difference, really."

"Yes, there is," Victor argued.

"No, there isn't," Yuri countered.

"Yes, there is."

"No, there isn't."

"Yes. there is!"

"There's already three strands of white hair visible on your scalp."

"NO, THERE ISN'T!"

Yuri pushed Victor back down on the couch with one hand, silently praising himself for this win. "Well, if you say so. Get back onto topic, Victor. How did you explain things to Angela?"

Victor continued to lie down on his couch as he thought. "Uhh…"

Yuri was ready to get up and get himself a drink of water when Victor shot up again from his laid down position. "I remember! So basically, I walked into her room after I got things straightened with the people in reception and did the usual greeting people thing."

"Was she surprised to see you, of all people there? I mean, you two heard of each other but never knew each other on a personal level." Yuri said.

"Yeah...she was kind of surprised, but she was really nice. Made me envy Liv for having her as a coach! But I don't know, I mean, maybe she's a lot stricter on ice. But during that day, she seemed pretty relaxed, cheerful. She was feeling good enough to go out for a stroll in the park behind the hospital."

"That's good. So you walked her?" Yuri asked.

"I pushed her on her wheelchair. It was during that stroll that I told her about me and Liv."

Yuri leaned in. "What was she like?"

Victor sighed. "She was wide-eyed and silent for a minute. I was expecting her to say something negative but instead, she directed the negativity towards herself. She began beating herself up, saying things such as 'I should've been there for her!' or 'what kind of coach am I?' and 'why did I bring her to this country in the first place?' That statement really got me."

Yuri blew a low whistle. Liv's experience in Russia wasn't too different from his own experience in America. Being in a foreign country is already difficult without the hardcore sports training and studying to pass post-secondary school. And neither of them did too well in their competitions while training abroad too.

Maybe, in the end, Liv decided to finally return to America. Maybe that's what happened to her. "It's really not easy being a country so different from the one you grew up in. It's good to have someone watch out for you. I had Phichit during my time in the US, I'm really grateful to him."

Victor smiled warmly at Yuri. "I'm glad to hear that. So I guess my being there for Liv kind of relieved Angela because the next thing she asked was whether or not Liv was feeling motivated to make it onto the Sochi Olympic team.

"I didn't exactly know how to answer that because there were times when Liv's ambitions were cloudy to me. So I told Angela that Liv's aiming to place in the top 3 at the 2014 Nationals. And she was glad."

Victor scooted a little closer to Yuri on the couch and crossed his legs, tossing his head back. "I never felt so much excitement build up inside when Angela encouraged me to stay by Liv's side and, it was like...she's counting on me. It felt nice. That day when you cried in the parking lot below the Cup of China rink...I felt that same feeling again. The feeling that I was being counted on."

Yuri recalled that memory, it felt like it was ages ago. "Yeah, I was counting on you just being there for me. That's all I wanted from you. That's the best thing a student could ask for from a coach."

"And the best thing a coach could ask from a student is for them to trust themselves. Trust that they can succeed through anything."

"But that takes two people for it to work. So a good coach and student combination would equal to unstoppable, unbeatable, legendary. I wonder how on Earth you were able to achieve so much when you and Yakov are practically Yin and Yang." Yuri observed.

Victor laughed. "Yeah, we never agreed on much during my competitive career. But we just had this invisible wire of communication between our heads. It was like we could guess what the other is most likely going to do and say. And from that, well, we worked some things out. And besides, we're complete opposites too! But look how well things turned out for you!"

A rush of pride swelled inside of Yuri. "I guess last season was a pretty good season…"

"It was your best ever!" Victor shouted. "You started off this season strongly too, despite your injury! You still won silver at the Grand Prix Final this season! Hard work pays off, Yuri."

"It does indeed. With a clear goal in mind and the right criteria to meet it, anything's possible."

Victor brought a finger to his lip. "Mmmm. Most of the time, yeah. There was something that Angela said back when I first visited her. It was after she encouraged me to help Liv prepare for the rest of the season. I think it was, 'without goals and dreams, we're just ordinary people, Victor. But even with them, we're still just ordinary people. Except now, we're ordinary people, chasing stars.'"

"'Ordinary people chasing stars…'" Yuri liked the sound of that. It made them seem special, not too much that they're considered rare. That's what skaters are. Just _ordinary people chasing stars, stopping and wondering who they really are. But they'll never let the circle of pressure enclose around them._

Victor nodded. "That's all we really are. And that was me and my rink mates back in the summer of 2013. Every day was a day of preparation so that one day, we would finally be able to make that final leap and claim that star..."

* * *

 _Summer of 2013. Russia Figure Skating Rinks._

(Dansonn Beats' Chasing Stars)

Starting from July, all the skaters representing the Russian Skating Union had one goal in mind, to make the Olympic team. And to do that, they had to make it count at the 2014 Russian Championships, the deciding factor for who gets selected, and who doesn't.

And of course, the Union won't base it on the National ranks alone, they'll evaluate the skaters' previous competitions as well, and their performance at the 2013-14 Grand Prix Series. There were only a few positions available, and over a hundred skaters competing for it.

The probability is low, and even though it wasn't even December yet, the competition is already on. Moscow, Kaluga, Cheboksary, Saratov, Rostov, St. Petersburg, and more. Skaters everywhere trained day and night, on ice and off ice, all to make their country proud.

But more importantly, to make themselves proud and to make people who were counting on them proud. The 2013 Worlds had already decided the number of skaters that can be sent, that's set in stone. Now, it's just a battle for those numbers.

Coaches work overtime to bring up the skills and morale of their skaters, to quickly fix what they need to work on, to improve something that's already weak, to make something even better. Combination spins that were already given level 4s? Well, coaches made their students do more interesting variations, increase the rotations and speed, make it more centered.

Footwork sequences that were barely praised? Coaches and skaters look for music that'll bring out the flare in those series of edges, turns, and facial expressions. Increase the smoothness of the transitions, decrease the amount of flailing arms, because nobody likes that.

It goes from big problems to tiny details. And it's those tiny details that make the difference between gold, silver, and bronze. Between placement and no placement. It's all about refinement of quality. Figure skating is a sport, a sport, and an art. Strength and beauty need to be balanced to make a winning skater.

But now, it's mostly about strength. Strength, which was equivalent to jumps. Without jumps, figure skating would cease to exist. It was jumps that now determined which ones were the skaters with the strong hearts, and which ones were the skaters with glass hearts.

Because jumps are not just based on strength of the body, but also strength of the mind. Going out onto the ice with the whole country's weight on your shoulders is not a good feeling, it takes guts to tackle an entire program during any type of competition.

Heck, it even takes guts to tackle a single jump during practice! Every time a skater is about to enter a jump, their mind plays tricks on them. Will they land it? Will it be successful? Will it be beautiful? Will they barely hold onto their edge? What about the jump right after that? Will they be able to land this when it actually counts?

If those thoughts run wild, then they will most likely flub their jumps. And that cannot happen if they want a ticket to the Olympic stage. Training the mind of a skater comes through training the body of a skater. Build up their confidence by improving their skills, they'll eventually come to believe that they _can_ do it and that they _will_ do it when it really counts.

And when they actually land that jump or skate a clean program. That feeling afterward is often considered the "best feeling in the world," by both skaters and their coaches. But unfortunately for many skaters, that only comes up a few times in their entire career.

More often than not, skaters fall. Again, and again, and again, and again. They say that every fall makes a person stronger, but in figure skating, it could be the exact opposite. Every fall has the potential of making the skater weaker. That's what audiences expect every time a skater takes the ice: that they fall.

The entire arena always holds their breath when a skater is approaching their first jump, and about half of them always expects him/her to fall, stumble, or pop it. That's why skaters who were consistent are often hailed as the best among all the other skaters. That's how Victor earned his spot in the figure skating world and a place in all the spectator's hearts.

By delivering programs that the audience could just relax and enjoy, instead of tense up and shiver over the probability of the skater performing a clean or at least decent program.

And every skater out there wants to achieve what Victor was able to achieve. But then that won't any of them special. That's why it's a constant competition, only the ones who come out on top are considered a cut above the rest.

The entire summer was filled with training of all sorts, endurance, flexibility, resistance, plyometrics, with the intention of improving the performance of the skaters' short programs and free skates. The start of the new season will begin with the Grand Prix Series.

That's where the skaters showcase what they've been working on over the summer of off-season training. That's where they reintroduce themselves to the world as a new and improved skater. The six events of the series determine the top six skaters who will be competing for gold, silver, and bronze at the Grand Prix Final.

In the year 2013, the final six skaters included Jean-Jacques Leroy, Christophe Giacometti, Gordon Kang, Victor Nikiforov (of course), Alan Wakefield, and Michal Crispino. The top three skaters were Victor, Christophe, and Gordon.

That was in Fukuoka Japan, on December 6, 2013. And that was where Victor broke his old world record in the free skate score, from a 220.83 to a 223.05! Now that was something that got the entire figure skating world excited for right before the largest international event of this season.

After the Grand Prix Final, Victor had two weeks to work with Liv before the major deciding factor of the Olympics comes up, the 2014 Russian Figure Skating Championships. Two weeks to see how she fared over the summer months and during the time when he was away competing in the Grand Prix Series.

Two weeks to close that gap between her and the rest of her competitors so she would be able to make the cut. Two weeks of pushing Liv closer to the star she's chasing after.

* * *

"And I'm telling you, right now, Yuri. Those two weeks were an absolute battlefield." Victor stopped to catch his breath after storytelling for quite awhile while gesturing and moving around to emphasize some parts of what he's saying.

Yuri was getting overwhelmed just by hearing all of it. And a bit thirsty too. "I understand. The most stressful times of my life basically. But boy, it feels like a huge weight off your chest after it's done and over with!"

"Agreed. And—oh my god, what time is it?" Victor ran back a little to check the digital clock on the bookshelf. "5:30? Yuri, how long were you originally planning to stay here in Russia?"

Yuri walked up to Victor. "As long as it took for us to fix things up. I'm staying at a hotel in the downtown—"

"Let's head down and sign you out because you're from here on, you're staying with me until we've completely fixed things!" Victor grabbed both of Yuri's hands and began dragging him to the front door.

Yuri complained a little. "Wait, Victor! I just signed in yesterday morning! I can't just sign out! That'd be weird, they'd probably think it's because I didn't like their service or something!"

Victor shook it off. "Whatever, I'm not letting you stay here by yourself when I have an extra guest room! Besides, it's better this way! Makkachin agrees too! Right, boy?"

From the kitchen, Makkachin answered with a cheerful bark. Victor wrapped Yuri's jacket around him and forced him into his winter boots before pushing him out the door.

"Hurry up, Yuri! We need to get back here so I can actually prepare something good to eat for tonight! Because I was not expecting to see you! Now, tell me. Do you like salmon or tuna?"

Yuri lifted a single finger. "Well, actually, Victor. They taste about the same—"

"Tuna it is. Actually, that's all I have left in my pantry. I just wanted to make sure you're ok with it." Victor admitted cheekily.

Yuri sighed as they closed the apartment door behind them.

* * *

 **By the way, the part of the story that sums up the summer of 2013 all the way up to the Grand Prix Final is inspired by the montage on YouTube made by SummertimeSadness. That video is called Figure Skating - Sochi Ladies, and the song being played in the background is called 'Chasing Stars' by Dansonn Beats.**

 **That song and montage really helped me make this chapter, and is what I based the title of this chapter on. Go watch it if you haven't already! Thanks for reading! I'll be back again (maybe a little later next week).**

 **In the meantime, please REVIEW, FOLLOW, and FAVOURITE! Thanks! :D**


	16. 2014 Russian Championships

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI. Just this fanfic.**

 **The last chapter seemed to be well received. So from now on, I shall continue writing the backstory in that style. With parts of the chapter in the past timeline, and parts of it in the present. (I hope I won't confuse you guys with the constant date switchings! Please tell me if I am..)**

 **Also, just a heads up that I'm writing a new fanfic that is based on a Korean-derived Chinese comedy reality game tv show (RUNNING MAN: CHINA). I'm just inserting characters from Yuri On Ice into it. Basically, this fanfic is based on one of its episodes, and there are several games in it that the skaters have to do to finish the big task in the end.**

 **The events of the games are meant to be ridiculous so that the skaters will have a hard time completing them, giving their viewers a good laugh. Please visit my page and check it out if you can! It's called: Hurry Up, Skaters! Episode: Find the Code.**

 **I was thinking of maybe making it into a series of fanfics, with each fanfic based on a different episode of RUNNING MAN: CHINA. But I'd like to know how well received it's going to be before getting in over my head. So please take out some available time and leave a REVIEW or something so I'd know what to do! And FAV and FOLLOW if you actually enjoyed.**

 **Alright, enough talk about that fanfic, time to switch focus back to this one! This chapter was difficult for me to write since I had to seriously summarize the events of the 2014 Russian Championships while squeezing in some Victuri parts too! (In the end, I had to cut some events out and leave only the ones you'll read in this chapter.)**

 **But I hope it's still enjoyable!**

 **Please REVIEW, FAVOURITE, and FOLLOW! :D**

* * *

 **Ch. 15: 2014 Russian Championships**

 _Wed. Dec. 28, 2016. Victor's apartment._

Yuri sat by himself at the kitchen island with a plastic cup of water. It was early morning, and he felt too anxious to go back to sleep. To be honest, he barely slept at all last night! Being in another person's home, even though it was Victor's, made him feel a bit uneasy inside.

The warm air from the automatic heater filled the entire apartment. Despite that, Yuri still wore the fluffy bathrobe Victor gave to him. It made him feel comfortable and safe, and it smelled nice too. The quietness of the early winter morning made Yuri feel peaceful, which is a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.

He closed his eyes to take it all in. His dulled senses caused him to be unable to hear or feel the presence of somebody coming up from behind him. A pair of cotton covered arms wrapped around Yuri's neck and shoulders, a pile of silver hair buried itself next to his head.

Victor leaned in close to his significant other's ear. "Morning, Katsudon. Sleep well?"

Yuri felt at ease now with Victor here. This place didn't feel completely foreign anymore. "I guess if I don't count your thunderous snoring as a factor that kept me up nearly half the night."

Victor playfully hit Yuri on the temple with his hand. "You liar! If anyone was snoring, it was you! I had to come into your room twice to turn you towards around to minimize that horrid sound from your nose!"

"Wait, you actually came into my room last night?" Yuri repeated again.

"No, I was just kidding. And you didn't snore either, even if you did, I wouldn't mind it at all." Victor placed a gentle kiss on the side of Yuri's forehead. "You already washed up, right? What do you want for breakfast? Homemade or would you rather we go down to the local cafe?"

"Homemade. I'd like to help out this time, too." Yuri replied as he stood up from the island seat.

Victor smiled at him as he opened a cabinet to take out a container of coffee powder. "Ok, you can be in charge of the cucumbers. They should be in the bottom of the fridge."

Yuri began helping out however he can in the kitchen. Victor boiled the water and prepared the coffee while Yuri chopped up some cucumbers and whipped out a few spoons of mayonnaise, upon Victor's request.

Things went more smooth than Yuri anticipated. They worked so well and efficiently together, almost like a married couple—Yuri abruptly stopped his brain from going in that direction. This wild imagination needs to stop!

Finally, everything was set and ready. The two men sat down at the island with their collaborated breakfast in front of them, nicely placed in dishes and bowls. Small cups of boiling coffee were left to cool as Victor grabbed some white bread for him to spread the mayonnaise onto. Yuri took a few cucumbers.

Eating breakfast here at Victor's apartment almost felt like eating at a hotel, except that the breakfast is free and not delivered by an orderly. And it felt familiar to him. All in all, Yuri loved every second of this time being spent with Victor. He made the right choice coming here to Russia.

Now, it's time for him to get on track and learn more about Victor's backstory. "Victor," Yuri said after finishing his coffee. "Are you ok with continuing from where we left off last night?"

Victor paused midway eating his sandwich. He smirked at Yuri. "Whoa, feisty aren't you Yuri? Always so eager."

Yuri knew what Victor was implying and shook his head, his cheeks growing red. "No, not that kind of 'where we left off last night!' I meant your backstory!"

Victor shook his head chuckling. "I know what you meant the first time, just wanted to have some fun. But anyways...where did we leave off exactly?"

"You were preparing Liv for the 2014 Nationals that was coming in two weeks," Yuri reminded.

Victor snapped his fingers. "That's it! Wow, Yuri...I didn't think you'd be so into this story."

"The more I know about you, the better we can heal our relationship."

"To be honest, I think it's already starting to heal. But if you want to hear this—"

"And I do!" Yuri cried fiercely. Victor sighed.

"Well then, during those two weeks, I saw that Liv managed to improve the height and distance of her double axel and triple salchow jumps, but the rest of her jumps didn't move up that much. It was alright though, I was glad to see some improvement. She also tweaked her short program a bit to make it more difficult and also finished her free skate." He explained slowly.

Yuri rested the side of his head on his arm that is propped up on the island's surface. "Uh huh, what about Angela? Was she discharged from the hospital?"

Victor shook his head. "No, she wasn't feeling well enough to go into remission. So Yakov signed up as Liv's coach for the Russian Championships, which honestly surprised me. I guess he also saw something in Liv the way I did. But of course, I was glad he kept his word and stood in as her substitute coach."

"Yakov had to look after a lot of students, didn't he? I mean, he had you, Mila, Max, Constantine, Laurel…" Yuri lost track of the names and went blank.

"Yeah, he did. Those were one of the few times when I truly looked up to him again. It amazed me how sane and critical he could be when he is forced to be in charge of so many different students. I guess that's just a coach's life." Victor shrugged.

Yuri was curious as to what happened at the 2014 Russian Championships. "So...what exactly happened there? I didn't exactly watch it that year, so I don't remember too much. But I think I do remember your short and long programs, just not everyone else's, and definitely not the ladies' portion of the competition."

Victor picked up the leftover dishes, bowls, and plates and gently placed them down into the sink before rinsing them with the tap water. He scrubbed and dried them before putting them onto the racks.

"Then how about we watch the events of the 2014 Nationals on my laptop? It should be available on Youtube. Come on."

Victor pulled Yuri by the sleeve to his bedroom, where disorganized comforters and pillows filled the queen sized bed in the middle of the room. A messy Makkachin was sleeping sound asleep in the basket in one corner and Victor's laptop was left charging on the ground next to a power outlet in another corner.

He pushed Yuri onto his disheveled bed before unplugging his laptop and jumping onto the mattress next to him. Victor gave Yuri a large cylinder pillow to support himself with before typing into the search bar of Youtube, 'Russian figure skating championships 2014 full event.'

"I found it. I think this is it...yes, here it is!"

* * *

 _Tues. Dec. 24, 2013. Iceberg Skating Palace._

The events for the Men's, Pairs, and Ice dance short program were being held today. The first event out of all of them was the men's singles short program. All of them were nervous, all of them were warming up like their life depended on it both off ice and the second they stepped on ice.

The order of the skaters was completely chosen at random. And it just so happened that Victor was picked to go first. It was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because that spared any nerve-struck skater the fear of being the first to go up. A curse because it's _Victor Nikiforov_ , and knowing him, well the bar's about to be set very, very high.

"What do you want me to say, Victor?" Yakov asked as Victor prepared to leave the boards.

"I don't know, how about just a simple 'good luck?'" Victor suggested.

"Right…" Yakov rolled his eyes. Victor smiled at his coach's behavior before skating away into the roar of the cheering crowd.

 _Pan's Labyrinth_ began playing over the speakers of the very large and modern ice rink. Victor performed it just as he would in any other practice, except this time, with more emotion, more emphasis, and more power in all of his strokes and elements.

It was a dark and melancholy piece, and he wanted to audience to feel that too. The sad yet creepy aura that should send chills down their spines. Victor lands all of his jumps successfully, which comes as no big surprise. The surprise is this new program, and that's all Victor wants to deliver.

He scores a 98.01 on his short program, which causes several of the skaters behind him to pale, with the exceptions of a few older or more confident and skilled skaters. No matter that, a 98.01 on a short program is still a high score that will be hard to beat.

After Victor's strong short program, the only programs that really caught his attention were those of his rink mates. Georgi skates a powerful program to an orchestral version of _Revolutionary Étude._

Constantine puts the entire arena into a trance with his heartfelt program to _Love's Dream._ It was something that even brought tears to Victor's eyes. And then, of course, there was Max's program. A technically brilliant one with _Winter's Wind_ playing behind him.

The results of the men's short program for Victor and his rink mates were as follows: Victor in the lead with 98.01 points. Georgi following him with 93.88 points. Constantine placed fourth behind a skater from Moscow with 88.52 points. And finally, Max placed fifth with 88.40 points.

The rest of the day was filled with the short programs of the pair skaters and the ice dancers. Victor wasn't too worried about his own placement, for now, he was pretty confident that he'll gain a spot on the Olympic team.

What really got him anxious was the ladies' short program scheduled for tomorrow. "Liv got this. I know she does, she needs to make those judges score her. Like actually score her…"

Yakov suddenly puts a hand on Victor's back. "You're more scared for her than she probably is for herself! Why don't you go pay her visit, to calm your own nerves down."

"She's working on some kind of 'new song' right now for a friend of hers back in Detroit. Holly, I think her name was. You have no idea how focused musicians must be when composing!" Victor explained.

Yakov shrugged his shoulders. "Well, suit yourself. I'll see you tomorrow, it may be the ladies' short program but it's also your free skate, so don't get too anxious. Oh! And don't forget the 'surprise' for tomorrow."

* * *

 _Present time._

"I remember your free skate. It was to _Children_ by Escala, am I right?" Yuri asked.

Victor touched him on the tip of his nose to confirm his answer. "You are absolutely right. And do you know how I came to select that song for my free skate?"

"Liv helped you pick it out?" Yuri guessed.

"No!" Victor cried. "I used a random song generator online."

"What?!" Yuri was in shock. That's the least professional way of choosing a song to skate to. How on Earth was Victor able to get away with this from Yakov?

Victor smiled at Yuri's expression. "Shocked?"

Yuri nodded weakly. "I was expecting that someone like you would have chosen your music in a...less random way." He fumbled for the proper words.

"It doesn't matter how I choose my music. The way we find something we like every day is actually very random." Victor explained. "I mean, what were the chances that you found a new favorite candy? Or movie? Or outfit? All of these things happen by chance, it's up to us to decide whether we like it or not. And in my case, I felt that _Children_ was the right song for my free skate."

Wow...Yuri was astonished. That was actually a very clever way of interpreting life. He did not expect something like that to come directly from Victor's head. But it did, which made him look up to him even more.

Victor removed some strands of his hair away from his eyes. "I loved skating to that song that season. I wanted to skate to it again, but then the ISU changed a rule and allowed for songs with lyrics to be in programs. I had a couple of other songs in mind after hearing that."

"Yeah, I remembered that. In the 2015 season, you skated to _Stay Close to Me_ for your free skate," Yuri replied.

Victor reached over took Yuri's right hand, the one with the ring on it. "And that was the free skate you tried to imitate, which led to us being together. I'm not regretful of anything. Though I wonder...if I was allowed to skate to _Children_ again, would you have imitated it too?"

Yuri scooched closer next to Victor, his pillow held in the other arm and he put his head on his shoulder. "The same events would've probably happened, so yeah, I would've tried to skate your free skate even if it was to _Children_. Personally, that was my favorite performance from you."

Victor stroked the head of his student gently. "Well, we're going to see it again. Right after the ladies' short program."

Suddenly something came up in Yuri's mind. It was almost like a memory, or more like something that Victor said that he thinks he may have heard of before or seen before somewhere. As Victor searched for the right video on YouTube, Yuri asked him the question.

"Hey, Victor?"

"Yeah?"

"You said that Liv was working on a 'new song' during that time with a friend of hers back in Detroit, right?" Yuri confirmed.

"Yeah. I wanted to visit her during those days but apparently, when musicians are at work, they cannot be disturbed." Victor shivered. "I learned that the hard way."

"Yeah, ok. But this friend of hers in Detroit, you said that her name was 'Holly?' Right?"

Victor was getting confused. "At least that's what I heard Liv say. Why? Did you know Holly back when you were in Detroit?"

Yuri wracked his brain for more information. _Holly...Holly...Holly...where have I heard this name before?_ And then it came to him.

"Yeah! Well, sort of. Holly was the name of the music student whom Phichit asked to help create our program music. And I think she was the same person I called when we were looking for my new free skate music back then." Yuri explained.

Victor's eyes opened wide with interest. Yuri felt his own eyes open as well. "Is it a coincidence maybe?"

"I don't know. But this is definitely interesting, I do remember Liv saying that Holly was a music student attending a college in Detroit, but I don't know if that's the Holly you and Phichit knew." Victor brought his thumb to his chin.

"The song that Holly made, my free skate song, _Yuri On Ice_ , had a piano, violin, and drums in it. I don't know how Holly made it, but if Liv was helping her—"

Victor snapped his fingers. "I do remember that Liv plays piano! But I still don't know if this is related at all!"

"How about we drop this topic?" Yuri suggested. Maybe this is all just a coincidence, and they were just overthinking it.

Victor agreed. "Let's continue watching."

* * *

 _Wed. Dec. 25, 2013. Iceberg Skating Palace_.

The first group of ladies warmed up on the ice. All dressed in their short program outfits and focused on the first jumping pass of their program. Victor watched from the spectator's seat up high.

Liv wasn't going until some time later in the second last group. He got plenty of time to just relax and enjoy the performances that are about to come.

The first skater takes the ice, it wasn't one of Victor's rink mates but he watched nonetheless, the first performance is usually the most interesting and anticipated ones. This skater was small and petite and skated to _Fragile Dream_.

The next one had a slightly more powerful theme and skated to _Pirates of the Caribbean._ Each skater one after the other had a unique way of approaching their elements, connecting with the audience, and costume choice.

Victor often likes to keep his selections and themes different from everyone else's. But to be honest, most of his programs were inspired by programs he enjoyed watching from other skaters. This is his main source of inspiration. Whether it be men's or ladies' singles, pairs skating, or ice dancing, if he liked something, he'll use it.

Eventually, some of his female rink mates' short programs came up. Laurel Kopeykin went with something that was very unusual but sensational with her program. Her music was a Native American drum circle rhythm. It was amazing, Laurel never failed to turn Victor's head around. After that, more skaters from Moscow and Rostov came up, and Victor decided to go look for Liv.

"She should be in the back areas warming up. I wonder if Yakov is with her."

Walking past the crowd of spectators, skaters, coaches, and reporters, Victor made his way to the back of the arena, where it was much quieter and less filled up. The anticipating skaters were stretching doing off ice jumps and a few were even trying to meditate!

Victor made sure the package he was holding in his arms was still intact and not damaged. Eventually, he found Liv by herself practicing her landing positions while wearing earbuds and listening to her program music. He decided to give her a little scare.

Which did not go too well? Liv was not in the mood for any humor, which he immediately picked up on shortly after. "Hey, sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood. Anyways, remember the surprise I told you I was going to bring to your short program last week?"

"Yeah, you told me not to get any sort of costume for my short program, just my free skate. So I didn't bring anything. What's the surprise?" Liv asked.

Victor took out the package hidden behind his back and underneath his jacket. Liv carefully untied it, revealing a folded white outfit. She took it out and silently gasped. It was simple and flowy, not too flashy, just the way she liked it.

"Yakov had it made a few days ago. I just wanted to see the look on your face when you receive it. What do think? I thought it went well with the _Theme of Angel Beats_ , you know, kind of like...Kanade maybe?"

Liv carefully put it back into the box. "I love it. Thank you. Thanks for everything."

"No problem. I'll see you soon at the main rink. You got this, ok?"

 _Several minutes later…_

Victor stood at the top of the viewing area, watching the defending National Champion and fellow rink mate, Annie Vasin, skate an upbeat and sassy program to _Riverdance._ It was a clean program and she is currently in the lead, with Laurel close behind her. Right after Annie was a new junior skater who's just moved up to the senior circuit, and then it was Liv's turn.

He looked down at the side boards of the rink near the kiss-and-cry, Yakov was standing there with Liv, who tied her hair in a half up style and was wearing the outfit they got for her. Victor felt his hands grow clammy from clinging onto the metal bars. The young senior skater finishes an almost clean program and leaves the ice for Liv to enter.

Victor's pulse increased exponentially. To place in the top three, she'll need to be able to score somewhat close to what Annie and Laurel were given. Which were 72.45 and 70.89. Yakov said some inaudible words of encouragement before sending Liv off.

Liv's music came on and she began her program, immediately erasing her tension and goes into character. As usual, she was light and quiet on the ice, the only sound being when she performs a jump. She changed her opening combination to a triple lutz/ _triple_ toe! From the looks of it, it seemed clean.

All of her jumps seemed clean. But what Victor looked forward to were her spins in the second half of the program when the fast violin part comes in. Her final footwork sequence was also very entrancing to watch, leading in the final combination spin, which finally puts his nerves at ease.

Skating off the ice, Liv and Yakov wait for the score, which was a 69.70, placing her in third for the time being. Victor checked the time and went back downstairs, about an hour later, the ladies' short program would end and the men's free skate will start.

He had to start preparing for his own performance too!

* * *

 _Present time._

"So she placed third in the short program? That's good." Yuri remarked.

"I was happy for her. Before, she used to place fourth and fifth in the short programs. It's only during the free skates that she was able to climb back up in the ranks. That was an improvement, I couldn't believe that we actually made a difference."

Yuri smiled. "You think so little of yourself sometimes. You're a very impactful person, look at what you did to me in just a few months. I was the last place finisher at the 2014-15 Grand Prix Final, then with you as my coach, I became the silver medalist at the same competition in 2015!"

"Hmm. I guess I really am something, aren't I?" Victor praised himself, earning a slap on the forehead from Yuri.

"Don't you start sticking your nose up in the air, you still have a lot of explaining to do." Yuri scolded.

"I guess." Victor rubbed his forehead. "But what else do you want to see from the 2014 Nationals? I thought you already saw the men's free skate."

"I'd like to see it again. I really liked your performance to _Children._ " Yuri pressed.

"I'll let you see my performance to _Children_ if you promise me that when we get back to Japan, you'll perform a copy of it!" Victor requested.

Yuri sighed. "Sure, I'll do it. Just find the event already!"

* * *

 _Wed. Dec. 25, 2013. Iceberg Skating Palace. Men's free skate._

The audience had been going wild for all the performances by the men's free skates today, it was absolutely phenomenal. They're sure in the spirit of the upcoming Olympic Games. Victor applauded from the sidelines as Max finishes a nearly clean program with a fast backspin, raising his arms over his head. The _James Bond Medley_ ends as Max stops his spin.

Victor gives him a thumbs up which Max returns as he skates off the ice to see his score. A 160.58 was earned by Max, placing him in second for the time being, only behind Georgi Popovich who is currently in the lead with 162.97.

It wasn't until after several more skaters, that were all good in their own way, that Victor's turn finally came up. He felt his usual wave of anxiety pass through him as he stepped onto the ice after giving Yakov his traditional thumbs up.

 _Children_ played from the speakers. Victor began the program nice and slow, it wasn't until the pizzicato part when he begins to slowly up his beat. Gradually becoming more and more energetic. The pre-climax of the song comes up as he enters a high flying sitspin and then into a change foot camel spin.

The powerful main chorus comes up and the audience claps along in time as Victor lands another one of his jumps. He controls his own power as the song tones down just a bit and entered his intricate footwork sequence.

That toned down part built up once again to the powerful chorus and Victor forgot about the competition for awhile. It was just him and the ice, nothing else mattered. All of it ended with a fast scratch spin and Victor embraced the thunderous applause from the audience.

Even Yakov seemed impressed when he skated over to the boards and they viewed his score together. He had earned a 194.01, and a total combined score of 292.02, placing him in first overall.

Looks like he would successfully defend his National title for the fourth year in a row! Though he doesn't know if the same could be said for Annie Vasin…

There were still many more skaters to go after Victor, and none of them failed to disappoint, but none of them were able to beat the veteran's high score. Victor caught sight of Liv watching the free skate from a slightly empty spot in the reserved area of the viewing benches.

He approached her from the side, and she turned around to smile at him. "Hey, phenomenal job out there! Got me jumping too!"

"If you liked it so much, why didn't you throw any gifts down?" Victor pouted.

"Nah, I think you have enough dog sweaters by now." Liv turned around to continue watching the free skate.

Victor internally laughed at the dog sweaters remark. Was he buying too much clothing for Makkachin? He hoped he wasn't spoiling him, to be honest! Maybe he should cut down on the number of dog sweaters he orders per month.

"Well then, you can offer me an outstanding free skate tomorrow to make up for my lack of 'thank you' presents!" Victor decided.

Liv looked at him in fake shock. "Lack of presents? I'm going to be paying you for your coaching fees soon, isn't that enough of a 'thank you' present?"

Victor shook his head. "Money will never be enough. In fact, I don't think your free skate will be enough either!"

Liv gapped in amusement. "Then what do you want, spoiled brat?"

"How about going out to dinner after the medal ceremony?" Victor asked directly.

"Sure, I guess, if you let me pay for my own bill afterward," Liv answered, keeping her emotions to a minimum.

"I can go with that."

* * *

 _Present time._

"You took her to dinner!?" Yuri exclaimed.

Victor held up his hands. "Now, now, Yuri! It was back then, not now! I promise I haven't been with anyone else since we've been together!"

Yuri was about to continue on complaining when he remembered his own former crush on Yuko Nishigori, who's now married and is a mother to three girls. What can he say? A heart wants what it wants. They're all living breathing people after all.

"Well, I guess I'm glad that you've been with no one but me since we started this relationship. But still, I want to get a confirmation on these feelings that you harbored for Liv." Yuri looked at Victor directly in the eyes. "You obviously felt more towards her than just a usual coach and student thing."

Victor scratched the back of his head, there are no more excuses. "I can't control my own feelings, Yuri. A person feels what he/she feels, you can't make them feel a certain way no matter how hard you try."

"Yeah? And how did you feel towards Liv during that time?"

"I was strongly attached to her, maybe even infatuated with her for some time in the beginning. But it was mostly attachment from all the time we've spent together." Victor confessed in a straightforward manner.

Yuri felt slight relief wash over him. At least that's done and over with. Now he won't be guessing at Victor's feelings for too long. Unless something else similar to this came up…

Victor pulled Yuri close in a warm hug. Yuri felt the gentleness of the hug this time, it wasn't as rushed or tight, it was sincere and relaxing. Yuri felt his own arms slowly wrap around Victor and began to return the embrace. Victor's voice was quiet.

"I've been hiding too much from you, Yuri. You have more than enough reasons to leave me right now, and that's why I'm why I'm amazed that you're still here."

"Of course I am. I want you back Victor, I want to know more about _you_ , Victor. Even if I wasn't your first, I still want to be yours."

This was the closest Victor felt Yuri confess his feelings towards him. All the time back then, it was Victor who was trying to break Yuri out of his shell and become more open, confident. Now, Yuri is finally starting to do just exactly that. He must harbor really strong feelings towards him.

Victor felt tears come to his eyes from sheer happiness. Yuri sighed. Was Victor able to get the message? That he lov~wants to stay with him forever? He hoped he did.

"You're still not done your story, Victor. What happened at the ladies' free skate?" Yuri asked.

"Well, basically this is what happened…"

* * *

 _Thurs. Dec. 26, 2013. Iceberg Skating Palace. Ladies' Free Skate_

Mila Babicheva was the first skater to perform her free skate. Skating to _Malaguena_ , Mila was fast and in time with the energetic music. She may be one of the younger senior skaters under Yakov's tutelage, but she has a lot of potential.

This free skate was very well attention-grabbing and well done overall, no falls, just a few step outs in the last jumping passes. Victor kept a careful eye on the clock, knowing exactly what time it is currently, so he would know when Liv's turn is coming up.

This is the last event for the ladies' single competition, after this, the top three National placements will be determined and the Skating Union will begin deciding which skaters will represent this country at the Olympics, and which ones will not.

Victor felt a little more at ease during this event than the events before, probably due to his own free skate being done and over with, and of course, him claiming the National title once again! Now, a new group of skaters enters the ice for warm ups and then the first skater of that group begins her program.

Performance after performance, the probability of certain skaters being selected either increases or decreases. It was hard to watch whenever normally consistent skaters suddenly fall, or when already anxious skaters perform worse than normal.

But the majority of them seem to be doing rather well. A few even scoring their season's and personal bests here! But then, the entire atmosphere changes as the skater many people were waiting for steps on the ice.

Even Victor was ready to know how she will do here. Favorite to win, Annie Vasin, performs her free skate to _Star Wars Medley_. She begins the entire program speedy and confident, the first two jumping passes were successful, but then, she pops the triple loop right before her first combination spin.

The rest of the program felt a bit rushed, it was as if Annie's nerves had gotten the best of her after the popped triple loop, causing her to nearly step out or pop every single one of her remaining jumps. She fell on her last combination and finishes the program with a forced smile.

The audience, including Victor, supported her with their applause as she skates off the ice with tears in her eyes. She had scored a 131.92, earning a total combined score of 204.37 and placing her in second.

A few skaters later, Laurel Kopeykin comes on. Her program was gentle and sweet, skating to _Canon in D_. Laurel was much more consistent than Annie tonight, she also brought on a sense of maturity and elegance that not many skaters had during this event. It made her seem like a skating genius.

Laurel scored 140.58, earning a total combined score of 210.67, placing her in first for the time being. Victor wasn't too surprised, he always saw Laurel as a strong skater and competitor. Though, he was surprised to see a new skater from Kaluga beat Annie's score with a clean free skate and combined score of 210.49!

All of these intense performances caused Victor to lose track of time and before he knew it, Liv's group was up. He felt his hands grow clammy once again upon seeing Liv warm up on the ice below, dressed in a simple light-grey dress and hair tied up in a curly bun.

She was the first skater of the group to go. A quick flashback memory of when Liv told Victor her song choice for her free skate passed through his mind. _Victor took out the earbuds connected to Liv's cell phone after hearing an excerpt from her free skate music._

" _Where did you find this?" Victor asked._

" _I recorded it myself. I inserted in the rainy background, what do you think? It's kind of depressing, isn't it?"_

" _Representing your pain and struggles here, right? Where is this song from?"_

" _The video game, Heavy Rain. It's the piano suite. 'How far would you go to save someone you love?' The lengths people go to for other people, it's amazing how attached we're all to each other. That's what I want to show. The four main characters, and what they had to go through..."_

The sound of rainwater began the program, followed by the sound of the piano gently starting the entire song. Liv enters her first jump which she lands successfully before going into her triple lutz/triple toe combination, which was another success.

The performance was...indescribable. It was hard to make out any clear thoughts or feelings, the entire program was clean and deep. The only sound the audience made was the applause after every landed jump. Liv was not skating anymore, she was painting, with 'knife shoes,' just like she said a long time ago.

The program ends with an alternating rotation combination spin. That's when the real applause began, Victor was speechless. Yakov was speechless, Liv was antsy while waiting for her score to display in the screen above.

Victor's nerves wake up again after seeing the numbers appear. She had scored a 141.31, and a combined total of 211.01! This places her in...unbelievably, first for the time being. Liv jumps up in shock and joy, her face brightly lit. Yakov was awestruck as well and pats her in congratulations.

Running down the stairs towards the back hallways of the complex, Victor made his way through the large crowd towards Yakov and Liv. Finally, he found them walking down the passage to the change rooms.

"Liv!" Victor cried.

She turned around joyously and ran up to him, still in her skates with guards on. He pulled her into a tight hug. Yakov smiled as they celebrated over her current score and placement. This was just...amazing! Simply amazing!

Liv was still in disbelief of it all. "I can't believe it!"

"Believe it!" Victor pressed.

"No, I really can't! This is...my first time placing this high in the Nationals! What on Earth did I do?"

Yakov walked over. "You improved the right way. That's what you did. Anyways, wait until the end of the event, then we'll know the results. Don't celebrate too early." With that, Yakov walked down the passage.

Victor placed an arm around Liv, walking her down to the change rooms. "I told you didn't I? Back in July, I told you that you'll pay me for my coaching fees after you win _gold_ here. And you did!"

Liv sighed. "I guess you're right. How much are your usual rates?"

"Hey, focus on the important things! You have a high chance of getting gold right now! We'll be matching for the medal ceremony tomorrow!"

"Mmhmm."

"And don't forget to keep an empty stomach for evening afterward! I got places at _Ryegatt's Star_!" Victor reminded.

"And I'll be paying my _own_ bill at the end."

* * *

 **Constructive criticism is welcome (complaints only over private message, ok?). Thanks for reading guys! Please REVIEW, FAVOURITE, and FOLLOW, if you haven't already!**

 **PS. Don't forget to check out my other fanfic - Hurry Up, Skaters! Episode: Find the Code, when you have time! :D**


	17. The 2014 Olympic Team

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **I found a few reviews that caught my attention on the last chapter. So I'll be addressing and answering them here.**

 **CCEEME: AMAZING description of how the skaters feel and what they are going through during the summer of 2013 in the second half of this chapter.** **You're really good at capturing the nerves and thoughts of these skaters! Are you a figure skater in real life? Because this is very realistic...(I skate in real life too, I can relate a lot to this fic, and to your OC, Liv)**

 **My reply: thanks for the compliment. Yes, I am a figure skater in real life. I don't compete nationally, (my parents say it's too expensive for serious training), but I compete in regional competitions every now and then. I'm at the intermediate level and have skated for around four years. I use a lot of my personal experiences to help write this fic. When I first watched Yuri On Ice, I sympathized with Yuri. K immediately, I knew how difficult it is to perform flawlessly in major competitions. What I really liked about the anime is how realistic it portrays the skaters in personal lives and behind the scenes in competitions. Again, thanks for the review!**

 **clalexander: I wonder about Holly...will she play a part in this anymore?. :o**

 **My reply: good question, Holly is a major link between my OC, Liv, and the main characters, Yuri. K and Victor. In this chapter, I've included a part where I practically give away the identity of Holly. Holly is just the nickname I made up for a character that actually exists in the Yuri On Ice canon universe. Also, for those music people out there, can you guess what song Liv was humming in the middle of the chapter? ;). Again, Holly is the nickname of a canon Yuri On Ice character. I'm not going to state who, go and search her up!**

 ***Note, I'll be releasing these chapters later and later due to increasing amount of schoolwork. But I will NOT give up on the story! At least try to...**

 **Anyways, shout out to my other fic, _Hurry Up, Skaters! Episode: Find the Code_ , I've reached the goal for that fic, so I'll be continuing it. Please check it out when you have time and leave some comments on what you think about it!**

 **Onto reading! :D**

* * *

 **Ch. 16: The 2014 Olympic Team**

 _Wed. Dec. 28, 2016. Streets of St. Petersburg._

Later on that afternoon, Victor decided to take Yuri out for a stroll through the streets of the winter-bound city. They stopped by several new stores that were just recently opened, more and more buildings seem to be sprouting up these days.

Victor took Yuri around the city, showing him some of the best landmarks and to places of interest. By now, Yuri was warming his hands with a warm cup of coffee as Victor walked close by him. They were on the street that faced the large lake.

Yuri recognized this street as the place where he and Yurio met back when he first came to Russia around two days ago to look for Victor. He wanted to take a break here.

"Victor, can we stop for a bit?" His breath came out in tiny puffs of smoke.

Victor nodded as he led him to a snow covered bench. Yuri took a seat after brushing away bits of the snow. Sighing, he looked out to the horizon of the faraway distance. For a winter afternoon, it was fairly sunny and the wind wasn't even that harsh.

But the air was still very cold. Yuri wasn't used to this kind of weather. Victor easily saw that and gave him his mitts and hat a few hours ago. Now, with the cup of coffee, Yuri shouldn't be as cold as he was before.

Victor leaned against the stone edges, facing Yuri. His smile was warm, it nearly melted away the frostbite on Yuri's fingers.

"What are you looking at?" Yuri asked as he felt his internal temperatures rise.

"The frozen bundle of love in front of me," Victor answered.

"Very funny, I haven't experienced a winter this cold since I was in Detroit!"

Victor tilted his head. "Oh? Is it like this too in America during the month of December?"

"Yeah!" Yuri nodded. "Or maybe I'm just sensitive to the cold. Phichit never really complained about it, but that's because he wastes all of his earnings on that darn heater in our dorm!"

Victor laughed. It's been over a week since he unofficially "broke up" with Yuri. And only two days since Yuri appeared outside of the outdoor ice rink, clad in a giant winter jacket and flushed cheeks, wanting to get back together with him.

But to be honest, Victor felt as if they never broke up in the first place. That Yuri had been here this whole time when it was only for two measly days! But to Yuri, the events still happened, and the impact that it left on him still hasn't faded.

He's here with one goal: get back together with Victor, and mend their relationship for real, no matter what Victor said. Yuri could tell that every now and then, Victor would try to make him forget about Liv, and about the whole backstory.

But Yuri refuses to. The whole reason why their relationship almost got destroyed last time was because they were hiding too much from each other, to make this second chance work, he needs Victor to confess _everything_.

Yuri took a sip of his coffee. "Didn't Liv tell you about America? I thought you'd know it's this cold there too!"

Upon hearing Yuri mention Liv, Victor's light-hearted composure slightly hardened. "All that I heard about America was that there are not enough good fast food restaurants and how there are too many people that fit the 'typical American' stereotype, which she says is 'ruining the reputation of the country.' Nothing about freezing winters."

"Well, she grew up there. She must be used to it."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Silence. Once again, Victor was attempting to steer clear of talking about Liv. Yuri did not like this, even after everything he said to Victor, Victor was still trying to hide things.

"Alright, that's it, Victor!" Yuri put his coffee down on the bench. "Just tell me what happened to Liv! Tell what happened between you two! I promise I won't be mad! I want to know! I need to know!"

Victor nearly flipped over the edge from the sudden outburst. "Yuri, remember what I told you before? This is a difficult topic for me! Difficult and sensitive! I—I can't just up and tell you—"

"Why? Do you still have doubts about me? Or maybe you did something that you shouldn't have done…" Yuri was walking closer and closer towards Victor.

"Have you never been through something traumatic, Yuri?" Victor grabbed Yuri's hand and forced it down. "I don't believe you never had! You know how difficult it is, opening up to others and moving on! Do you even know what happened after that year's Nationals—"

Yuri's eyes widened. "What? What happened? Liv won didn't she? You said so! And Google says so too!"

Victor mumbled under his breath. "Those racist bastards…"

"Huh?" Yuri was able to make out a little bit from what he heard.

"Nothing. Yeah, Liv won. Took home the gold and title of 2014 National Champion in the ladies' singles..."

* * *

 _Wed. Jan. 22, 2014. St. Petersburg Ice Rink._

The afternoon's practice was over, the skaters all left the ice to go change back into their regular clothes and prepare to go home. But today was different. The feelings of anxiety and excitement were in the air.

That's right. Today was the day where the Russian Skating Union would reveal the list of skaters going to the Sochi Olympics. There were three spots for men's singles, three spots for ladies' singles, four spots for pairs skating, and two spots for ice dancing.

Even Victor's heart was palpitating as he threw his skates into his bag and rushed out towards the hall where Yakov said that he's posted the recently printed out list of skaters going to the Olympics. Actually, Yakov said that he was going to print out several and put them up in different locations in the rink.

Victor ran to the first location that popped up in his head: the wall in the snack room near the front lobby. Several of the other skaters rushed to the walls by the weight room, the washrooms, and the dance room.

His hands sweaty and his pulse racing, Victor's eyes scanned the list of names under the men's section. There he was! Bright and bolded at the top of the list: _Victor Nikiforov._

He made it! He threw his skating bag down in joy. Finally, his childhood dream of winning gold at the Olympics was going to come true! He missed his chance at the 2010 Olympics, but now he's going to make it up for that at the 2014 Olympics!

Reading the rest of the list, Victor saw that Georgi and Constantine also made it. That was no big surprise, they placed second and third respectively behind him. Max was the first alternate in case something was to happen to them and the skater from Moscow who placed fifth was the second alternate.

Giddy and excited, Victor continued reading the list to see who was selected for the ladies' section. His eyes started from the top to down.

 _Laurel Kopeykin...Sonia Ivanov...Annie Vasin…_

Victor felt the whole world come to a stop before him. Liv didn't make the cut. She placed first and she didn't make the cut. What. The. Fuck.

"Can you believe it?" A voice suddenly said from behind him. It was Yakov.

Victor was speechless. Yakov picked up Victor's skating bag and gestured towards the parking lot. "We need to go see Liv right now. Do you know where she is at this time?"

"L—Leora College. She should still be there at this time, most likely in the library. I'll text her to meet us outside. I—I refuse to accept this!"

"Good. We need to get to the bottom of this."

* * *

 _Several minutes later at the front parking lot of the main campus of Leora College._

Victor and Yakov slammed their car doors shut before walking up to the main stairway that leads to the large building behind them. There, a female student was sitting on the steps with a massive backpack and winter jacket, she smiled upon seeing them.

"Victor! Yakov! I received the text. I'm surprised that you'd want to come see me, what is it?" Liv asked.

When neither one of them answered immediately, she sensed that something was wrong, and with the facial expressions they had on, her assumptions were pretty strongly supported.

"What's going on?"

Victor took a step forward and looked at her in the eyes. Taking a breath before speaking. "Liv, did you see the list for the Olympic tea—"

Victor didn't even finish the sentence and Liv's knees turned to jelly as she fell to the cold hard concrete ground. Her arms clutching her stomach as she gasped and wheezed.

Immediately, Victor and Yakov knelt down in front of her and supported her fallen body, helping her back to her feet. Liv had her face covered with one hand, no sound came out of her mouth, but they could see the tears streaming down her cheeks as she gritted her teeth.

Victor wrapped an arm around her as he tried to bring her back to her feet, but it was difficult due to her weight with the additional backpack. Liv wouldn't show her face no matter how much coaxing they tried.

Yakov shook his head. It wasn't fair. It wasn't. He needs to know why, while it's still early.

"Don't worry, Liv. I'm going to speak with the RSU committee, I'll see what I can do." Yakov promised.

"We'll make things right." Victor squeezed her arms.

Liv shook her head. "It's no use...nothing I do...you two practically wasted your time on me…"

Victor was ready to cry too. He remembered the first time when Liv explained to him how difficult it was for her, competing both domestically and internationally. Back then, he thought that if he could make Liv more eye-grabbing, she would finally be given the treatment she should get.

He was wrong. It was harder than he thought. Now he knows, and Liv got hurt as a direct result.

"We'll go!" Victor pressed. "Let's go right now, Yakov! To the RSU's headquarters!"

Yakov looked from Victor's fierce eyes to Liv's broken ones. He nodded as he walked back over to help Liv to her feet. The two of them walked her to Victor's car.

"Let's go."

* * *

 _Hours later on the train from St. Petersburg leading to Moscow…_

It was evening by the time the three made it to the front lobby of the Russian Skating Union's headquarters. Yakov signaled to Victor to sit in the waiting area with Liv while he goes to discuss things with the committee.

"We don't need any more drama than there already is," Yakov explained. "Stay with Liv, please."

Victor slowly nodded. "Find out why they made their selections as it is." He reminded as he led Liv to the couches in the corner by the large windows.

Yakov took a deep breath as he lined up behind a line of people waiting to make appointments with the RSU, he needs to go speak with them immediately, no delays.

It took a long time of discussion with the secretary before Yakov was taken to the upstairs floor where some members of the Union greeted him and asked him what he wished to complain about.

Yakov immediately brought up the subject of the Sochi Olympics team selection. The Union members were not surprised to hear that. They've been getting lots of complaints from other people, mainly about their selections for the pairs and men's events.

But Yakov's complaint was different from the rest of those. "I'm here to talk about the ladies' event selections."

"Oh? Well, that's new, what about it?" One of the members asked.

"Why did you choose the fourth-place finisher, Annie Vasin to go? That's not how the Nationals usually operate, I'm just curious as to why this occurred." Yakov stated.

The two Union members pursed their lips and thought hard before one of them answered Yakov's question. "You see, yes it does go against the practices of Nationals selections, but we didn't make a mistake."

"Basically, we did what we believed was the best for the events of this year's Olympics. It's being held in this very country after all! We want a strong team of skaters, so we did more than just rank them by Nationals performance, we ranked them by overall performance. Their international competitions and promising skills."

"Annie Vasin had more international achievements and is an overall better competitor. Yes, Olivia Nguyen won the Nationals, but we don't know enough about her to be confident in putting her on the team."

Yakov was patient in letting the men finish their reasoning before countering. "Olivia won the Nationals because she's a strong skater and competitor. She's consistent, you can't deny that. Yes, she's missed a few ISU competitions but that's not because she fell on her Nationals performances, but because of different scoring."

One of the men nodded in agreement. "She is consistent, you're right, Mr. Feltsman, but the majority of the Union felt that Annie Vasin was the better contender, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Yakov wouldn't let up. "Why? Did you ask your colleagues why? I'm sorry to press this on but, I've been in the skating world for a long time, and this is the first time I've seen something like this happen in our own national championships. It's hard for me to let this go."

"Mr. Feltsman, I already told you that the majority of us went with Annie Vasin. I don't the power to change this."

"Can I talk to the president?" Yakov asked.

The two men shook their heads. "I'm sorry, but he's very busy right now. But listen, I can bring this up in our next meeting, and maybe, just maybe. We can make Olivia Nguyen an alternate. Is that good enough?"

Yakov saw that there's no arguing with these men. But he tried one last time to find out more. "Do you have any idea as to why the majority of the Union chose Annie Vasin?"

The men turned around from down the hallway. "If I were to guess, then it'd be because she's nicknamed _Russia's Queen of Ice Skating._ But that's only a guess."

With that, Yakov was led back down the elevator, deflated and disappointed. But this whole experience also opened his eyes. He knows more now, he sees more. The corruption that's slowly taking over the world of competitive figure skating.

The elevator doors opened on the first floor and Yakov stepped out. Victor's head immediately turned around as soon as he heard the ding. He gently let Liv sit by herself on the couch as he rushed over to Yakov, anxious.

"Well? How'd it go?" He asked.

Yakov shook his head and sighed, pushing past Victor as he walked up to Liv. Victor's jaw dropped. "What!?"

Liv heard the silent answer Yakov gave Victor and already knew the answer. This whole attempt was futile. Yakov knelt down in front of her.

"Liv, they said they're going to put you on as an alternate, well, not really 'said' but at least discuss it. There's still hope. But other than that, there wasn't much I could do. I'm sorry." He apologized.

Liv's voice cracked. "Nothing…? O—of course... _urgh!_ Omigosh!" A look of panic spread across her face as she suddenly jumped out of her seat and ran towards the front door, her hand covering her mouth.

Victor and Yakov chased after her out to the snowy streets of the area outside of the large building headquarters. They ran down the steps just as Liv made a mad dash to the nearest black metal trash can.

Barely making it, she stumbled and threw up a tiny bit on the street before dunking her head into the opening of the large cylindrical container.

Her hands squeezed the edges of it as Victor ran up behind her and quickly grabbed her hair to move it out of her face as she poured out the contents of her stomach onto the snow covered pile of garbage.

With each expulsion from her stomach, Liv sounded more and more in pain. Her grip on the edge of the can became weaker and weaker, tears flowed freely from her eyes until she was dry heaving.

Yakov left to go buy some water and gum from the vending machines inside the building before handing them over to Victor, as bad as he felt for Liv, he couldn't handle seeing people throw up in front of him.

Victor heard that Liv's retching had slightly calmed down and gently touched her on the shoulder, shaking her to see if she's alright. "Liv? Liv? Feeling better?"

Barely holding onto the trash can, Liv weakly nodded before slipping down onto the icy snow-covered ground. It was dark and the streets were lit up by the lamps, making the snow falling from the sky appear orange instead of white.

Victor held Liv up to prevent her from flopping against the ground. She wouldn't stop crying, she couldn't stand up either. Victor gave her the water bottle Yakov bought and she quickly took several gulps of it.

It took several minutes before Liv's sobbing lowered and she was just silently producing tears. But she still wouldn't stand up. Victor never let her go once, Yakov checked the time to see when they need to board the train back to St. Petersburg.

"Victor, we need to go, can you carry her?"

Victor gently shook Liv. "Can you walk?"

"Sure...just a bit tired…that's all…but I'll walk."

* * *

 _Several hours later…_

By the time they reached the St. Petersburg train station, Liv has fallen fast asleep and Victor had to carry her. Throwing one of her arms over his shoulder, he helped her out of the train and towards the parking lot.

Yakov stopped in front of their cars, discussing with Victor over what to do right now.

"Does she have the keys to her apartment?" Yakov asked.

"Yeah but...I honestly don't think it's a good idea to take her to her home right now. With her current condition, I'm afraid that she might...do something…"

Yakov got the gist of it. "I see. Then what?"

"I'm taking her to my place for the night and I'll be keeping her there for a few days just to be safe." He took a look at the sleeping woman he's holding upright. "She's going through a lot."

"Alright, but make sure you don't skip out on your own practices. You're on the Olympic team, you can't waiver yet. But I'll let you skip tomorrow's practice. Only tomorrow, though." Yakov strictly reminded before getting into his car and driving away into the snowy night.

Victor sighed as he carefully put Liv inside his car's passenger seat and fasten the seatbelt over her. Getting into the driver's seat, Victor drove towards his home.

After reaching his building's parking lot, Victor carried Liv the same way he did back at the train station, up the elevator, and into his apartment. He laid her down on the couch before shutting the door behind him to grab his skating bag and her backpack out of the trunk and bringing them back up.

When he returned to the apartment, Victor saw that Makkachin was awake again and standing next to the couch Liv was sleeping on. He curiously nudged her hand, seeing if she would wake up. Victor picks the bags down in a corner in the living room before gently coaxing his pet back to his room.

He leaned against the wall facing Liv, sighing. What a terrible day today was. It was all for nothing. As much as he hated to admit it, Liv was sort of right. Nothing she did made a difference. Well, it did—just not in the way they hoped it would.

What did they do wrong?

Standing back up, Victor went to his guest room to grab a large unused comforter and pillow. Gently resting Liv's head under the pillow, he spread open the comforter over on top of her body. Then he went to the other side of the living room to grab some bean bag chairs.

He put them in front of the couch so that in case Liv rolled off, she won't hit the ground. After finishing with the bean bag adjustments, Victor left the room to go to sleep. After today's events, he was more than ready to accept the warm embrace of his own bed…

* * *

 _The next morning…_

Victor didn't wake up until around nine, the latest he has ever woken up since he moved out of his parents' home! He immediately changed into his home clothes and went out to see if Liv was awake. She wasn't.

So he went onto his morning routine. Giving Makkachin his breakfast and water, then shoving his practice outfits into the laundry, and finally, making breakfast. He was still a bit tired, so he didn't use the stove and stuck to quick off-the-shelf meals.

It felt strange, being at home this late in the morning on a freestyle practice day. Eating bacon sticks for breakfast instead of granola bars and cold bread. Makkachin barked behind him. Victor turned around.

Liv stirred around the comforter, her "huh?" confirmed to Victor that she awake and conscious that this is clearly not her apartment. He walked over to greet her.

"Hey, you fell unconscious on the train back home so I took you here. Welcome to my place. I know that this isn't the most formal visit...but...oh well…" He sat on the bean bag chair in front of her.

She was still lying on her side, not saying a word. Her eyes were still a bit red from all the crying yesterday and partially from just waking up. Victor finished his bacon stick and knelt in front of the couch.

"Hey." He took a more gentle approach. "Feeling better?"

Liv merely nodded, still not saying a word.

"Hungry? Tired? Cold? Can I get you anything?" He asked, trying to get her to talk back.

She did. But it was barely audible. "Can you get me my phone?" Liv croaked.

Confused but obedient, Victor walked over to her backpack and asked for which pocket her phone was in. After digging through all those papers, textbooks, and folders, Victor finally found the hard bumpy case of the cell phone. He handed it to Liv as she sat up on the couch.

"Thanks." She took the phone and began scrolling through her contacts list before selecting the one she was looking for. Victor stepped back into the kitchen to give her some privacy. He couldn't help but listen in on her conversation.

"Hey, Ketty. It's me...oh, fine. Hey, Holly, it's me. What's wrong with the name your parents gave you? Sheesh...Anyways sorry for calling you so late...what? You're still up? Girl, you need to get some sleep!"

Holly...Victor thought. Liv's Detroit best friend and music composing partner. What did she have to tell her about?

"Uh, listen. I'm not feeling too well now...I'd rather not say. So, yeah. Sorry, your clients are going to have to wait."

"...but next season won't be until many months from now! Can't you cut the Thai skater's song yourself? What? You two have another skater now? His Japanese friend? Ok…"

Victor heated some spaghetti in the microwave. He decided to stop listening in on Liv's conversation and continue with eating. Those bacon sticks weren't enough.

Liv was still a bit tired while talking on the phone. She pulled the comforter higher up.

"...you liked what I made so far? But I haven't made the sheet music yet. Want me to tell you the basic layout? Ok so, it's in the key of E flat major, there's a lot of sextuplet rolls...and the beginning part sounds like this…"

Liv hums the first few notes of the melody of her unknown original song. Victor heard it loud and clear from his kitchen, it sounded nice, even though she wasn't actually singing, she had a sweet voice.

"...got that? GC chord, then octave lower G, then go up as usual to A flat, B flat, D, then E flat. Ah, you know what? I'll send you a recording and midi when I'm feeling better. Yeah ok...I'll be sure to remember that...I'll be ok…thanks, I feel sort of better now. Bye, Holly. There, I called you 'Holly,' happy? Bye."

* * *

 _Present time._

Yuri let go of Victor, the fire that was once burning inside of him has now simmered down. So that's what happened after the 2014 Russian Championships?

From his own experiences, Yuri knew what it was like to fail and never win, no matter how hard he tried. So he had a pretty good idea of what Liv went through that day. Probably more than Victor does.

Victor was a winner. As much as he sympathizes with people below him, he will never how it feels like to be given the short end of the stick. What people like him and Liv have to go through. To them, a gold medal is a dream, and even if it's achieved once, it's equivalent to the greatest thing in the world.

Hearing Victor talk about the events of the post-Nationals caused Yuri to unconsciously produce tears. Victor panicked when he saw them and quickly grabbed Yuri by either side of his face.

"Yuri? Are you ok? I'm sorry! What did I say? I'm sorry!" Victor looked at him in the eyes wiping away some of his tears.

Yuri shook his head, calming Victor down. "I'm fine...it just feels...familiar...a bit too familiar to me."

Victor sighed in relief. "Alright, that's good. It's good. Please don't cry, I'd feel even worse than I'm already feeling now. With each passing day, we're getting closer and closer to 'that part' in my backstory."

That got Yuri's attention. He perked up and turned around. "'That part?' So the traumatic incident wasn't the fact that Liv didn't make the Olympics team?"

"Didn't you watch the Sochi Olympics, Yuri? I thought you knew the events." Victor was surprised.

"Yeah, but, uh...I kind of only watched it for you…" A light blush formed across Yuri's cheeks. "After the team event, you got injured during one practice and had to withdraw from the singles event. So I stopped watching."

Memories of that event came back to Victor's head. "Yeah, I wasn't paying attention during that practice. That skater was careful, it was my fault. I caused my own injury. And during that time, it was too late for any alternates to replace me, so only Georgi and Constantine competed."

"I see…" Yuri nodded. That's about everything he knows about what happened at the Sochi Olympics. Victor is most likely going to explain the rest of it. But first…he was getting a little hungry again…

"Victor? Any convenience stores nearby?" Yuri asked. "I need a snack."

 _Several minutes later…_

The two of them reached a small magazines store near a gas station. Luckily, it sold coffee and other snacks as well. Victor got Yuri some mints before heading to the washroom.

"I'll be back in a bit. Wait for me." Victor patted him on the hand before leaving.

Yuri sat at the small table by the coffee shop alone, fiddling with his packet of mints. He couldn't sit still though. Something's been coming back to mind, nagging him over and over constantly.

Why is that?

Annoyed, Yuri took his phone and earbuds to listen to some music while waiting for Victor. And to get this thing out of his mind. Scrolling through his long list of songs, a lightbulb suddenly appeared above his head. He got it.

Without a moment's waste, Yuri rushed to his contacts list and his fingers shakily tapped on Phichit's name. Bringing the phone to his ear, he eagerly shook his legs back and forth while the dial tone rang.

"Come on, come on, come on...pick up, Phichit…" Yuri really didn't want to forget this. Phichit better pick up so—

" _Yawn._ Hey, Yuri. 'Sup?" The familiar voice of the Thai skater slowed Yuri's pulse.

"Phichit! I know this is super random and may seem stupid but who's the music student who helped make our program songs?" Yuri asked a mile a minute.

"Huh? Music student…? Program songs…? Oh!" Phichit sounded much more awake now.

"Was her name, Holly? I checked the name of music student on my contacts list that you gave me, it says Holly Abelashvili." Yuri asked.

"Holly?" Phichit sounded confused. "Oh...yeah, I forgot to tell you something back then. Holly's real name is actually Ketty. She just likes to be called 'Holly' and I guess that's what everyone calls her. So, yeah. I discovered this when you went back to Japan after your graduation."

Bells were ringing like sirens inside Yuri's mind. The pieces were beginning to click. "That number you gave me back when I was asking you for the music student. So that was Holly's/Ketty's, right? Ketty Abelashvili?"

"Yeah…" Phichit confirmed. "But why do you have to bring this up now? And at so late in the night for me! Where are you, Yuri?"

"Oh, uh. Guess what? I took yours and Yurio's advice. I'm talking it through with Victor right now!" Yuri revealed excitedly.

An earsplitting squeal was heard on the other side of the speaker. Yuri had to pull himself away from his phone to prevent himself from going deaf. The squeal lowered.

"Omigosh, Yuri! I'm so proud of you! I'm literally crying right now! So how's it going? Are you two getting along so far? Tell about it!"

And just a few seconds ago, he was complaining about how tired he was and how it was for him on the other side of the world. Now, he sounds fully awake. Yuri burst out laughing.

"Well. We're getting along just fine. It's amazing, Phichit! Victor's telling me everything about him that I need to know! Omigosh, there's just so much I can tell you…" Yuri didn't even know where to start.

"So tell me everything! From the very beginning!"

"I can't. I'm waiting for Victor right now, so I can't really talk to you for any longer. But there's something else I've been meaning to ask you. Does Holly or rather, Ketty, have a friend named Liv?" Yuri asked.

Phichit sounded confused. "Liv?"

"Stands for Olivia. Ever heard of her? Heard Ketty mention a friend of hers before?" Yuri tried to dig deeper.

"No...not that I know of. Why?"

"Never mind, never mind. When Ketty was making my song, did you ever see her work on it? Record it? She shouldn't have been able to do all of it herself...right? _Sigh._ Who played the piano part?" Yuri pressed.

Phichit really didn't know what Yuri was trying to find out. "Who played the piano part? I don't know! I assumed Holly—I mean, Ketty played it all! I don't how these songs are made! I ain't a musician!"

"Well—"

"Yuri! I'm back!" Victor's voice sang from in front of him.

Yuri quickly ended the call and stuffed the phone in his pocket before facing Victor as he sat down in front of Yuri. His fingers gently tapping the surface of the table, anticipating for something to be said.

"How was the potty, Victor?" Yuri asked without thinking it through.

He felt his face turn several shades of red as Victor laughed and shook his head. "It was super! How was your sensual phone conversation without me?"

Yuri gave him a thumbs up. They sat at the table for a few more minutes of casual talk and rest. Finally, Victor decides that it's time to head on back to his place. Yuri followed back out onto the cold streets.

Victor gazed at everything they passed by. "St. Petersburg has been my home since birth. But it's strange that it feels much different now." He remarked.

"Maybe it's the buildings." Yuri suggested. "The people? Or maybe the season?"

Victor stopped walking and looked Yuri. It wasn't like his usual stares, this time, he looked at him with a different expression. Almost like he's serious about something.

"Or maybe it's love…"

Yuri felt a warm pair of leather gloves grab his oversized fuzzy mittens. Victor began walking again, pulling him a little closer than before. Yuri didn't mind. He liked this. A lot.

Victor continued with what he had to say. "There's a quote I saw once from a picture frames store. 'Love makes our house a home.' I never really understood it until now."

"Does this place feel warmer now with me here?" Yuri whispered.

Victor answers his question and a squeeze on his hand. _Yes, I'm home now. Because you're here._

* * *

 **Again, I repeat that these chapters will be coming out later now. I need to get my priorities straight, so I'm going to have to move story writing down a few ranks. (But it was pretty worth it. I'm pretty confident with the two tests I've written today, and I got my chemistry test back too. Best mark I've got the whole semester in that class! *Slightly exaggerated.)**

 **I'm kind of a tryhard student, so I have to recognize that school and piano come first, then this. (Doesn't mean that I'll stop posting. Just giving you all a heads up if these chapters are coming out later and later.)**

 **I'll be answering more eye-catching reviews in the next chapter. Thanks for the support guys!**

 **See you soon.**


	18. Author's Note: I've made ANOTHER mistake

**Sorry guys, this is not a chapter.**

 **This is just me ranting about why this anime is messing with my mind! I just received a review on my first author's note where I made assumptions on the dates and timeline of events in Yuri On Ice. I basically based it on the timeline of real figure skating competitions, because during that time, I assumed it was based on actual events.**

 **But now...they updated the wiki and it says that the first GPF in the beginning of episode 1 was in SOCHI! Now that completely messes me up! I have no idea how much time passed between Yuri's coming in last place in the first GPF to the time when he met Victor in his family's hot springs.**

 **So I can only assume that the Barcelona GPF at the end of the season took place in the year 2015 (to not mess up my fanfic's timeline...) and that Yuri On Ice is NOT based on real life events.**

 **The Sochi GPF took place in the year 2012.**

 **The Barcelona GPF was held twice in the same location. In the years 2014, AND 2015 (which I'm assuming is the year in the Yuri On Ice episodes starting from the middle of episode 1 all the way to episode 12).**

 **AAAHHHH! I can't twist my brain around this new revelation! (Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out...). To make things simple, I'm keeping the timeline as it is (and I'm going to see if I can piece these pieces together. Why am I trying so hard to make sense of a fictional anime universe? Oh well, that's just me...)**

 **Thanks halfdemon376 for your review, telling me about the truth of episode 1's Grand Prix Final location! Now, just let me figure this out in the corner of my room while growing mushrooms...**

 **-Blobby Leaves :P**


	19. The 2014 Olympic Team (Con't)

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **Omigosh, I'm so so sooooo sorry about this wait, everyone! I knew that I said chapters would be coming out later but how long has it been? More than a month? I'm soooo sorry! :(**

 **It's just that this month has been so stressful—and I do mean STRESSFUL—for me. These marks really count since they're going to be placeholders for university applications for me next year. Gotta get my priorities straight! Not to mention piano's been really bothering me lately, it's almost like no one in my household is truly on my side. But things are sort of better now.**

 **Anyways, exams are coming up for me next week and you know what that means: SSSSTTTTRRRRREEEEESSSSS! (My favorite...NOT!)**

 **I've been working on this chapter a little bit every few weeks and sometimes a lot on weekends when I don't get any work or stuff to review for a quiz or test the following week. I managed to finish it all today! YES!**

 **Thanks guys for reading! Please don't give up on this fanfic! :D**

* * *

 **Ch. 17: The 2014 Olympic Team (Con't)**

 _Detroit, USA._

Phichit's practice has ended about half an hour ago, and he is now heading back downtown towards the large shopping center. It was super crowded and busy, but that's to be expected. New Year's Eve is coming up soon after all.

Making his way through the sea of bustling shoppers, Phichit checks his phone for any new text messages from Ketty—er, Holly.

 _Holly:_ _I'm at the food court. Where r u?_

 _Phichit: what r u wearing? There're too many people, can't tell who's who_

 _Holly: red jacket. Look for the person with the giant purple suitcase_

Phichit's eyes immediately scanned across the area for any sign of a red jacket in close proximity to a giant purple rolling backpack. Here...there...up...down...and yet, nowhere to be found. His head began spinning the more he looked.

Just before his balance was completely lost, a light tap was suddenly felt on his shoulder. That nearly caused Phichit to jump straight up and out of the rooftop of the mall.

"Phichit." The female's voice from behind said.

He turns and pulls himself together before putting on a friendly smile. "Hey, Ketty. Thanks for—"

The red-jacketed woman immediately turns around, walking with her back turned to Phichit, pulling her purple rolling backpack away with her.

"Sorry. I'm afraid you got the wrong person. I do not talk to strangers." She replied calmly.

"No, wait!" Phichit cried, now realizing his mistake. "Holly! Holly! There! I got it! Holly, thanks for—"

Just like that, Holly turns around. A sweet smile on her face. "That's better. Hey, Phichit. I haven't seen you since the beginning of your competitive season. I look forward to seeing you in the Four Continents soon. But I'm pretty sure you didn't call me here to talk about that. What do you need?"

"First of all, before we talk. Why don't we find a place to sit down?" Phichit suggested.

"Sure, I don't mind."

A few minutes later, the two managed to find a vacant table at the edge of the loud food court. It was difficult moving around with Holly's giant rolling backpack and even more so with Phichit's inability to keep a low profile while wearing a hoodless jacket. But they did it in the end.

Sitting down at the wooden table, Phichit mentally ran over what he is planning to ask Holly about today. She gave him her earnest attention, nodding for him to begin.

"Holly. Remember my friend, Yuri Katsuki?"

"Oh, yeah! Him! I saw him win silver at the 2015 Barcelona Grand Prix Final with the song I made for him! Just wait 'til my future employers hear about this! I'll land a job in the music industry in no time!"

Phichit reels her back into topic. "Yeah! That's kind of what I wanted to talk about with you. That song you made him? How did you make it?"

"What do you mean 'how?' There are many different steps in creating music. First, there's the planning, then the note-writing, then the inspiration, then time…" Holly listed.

"The...you know...the, uh...making the 'actual song process…?'" Phichit asked awkwardly, trying to make Holly understand what he means.

Holly understands. "Ohhhhhh. Well, the first version of _Yuri On Ice_ I created was basically an improvisation I made in my spare time. I didn't work too hard to refine it, but I let Yuri keep it anyways."

Phichit nodded. "Oh, ok. What about the revised version? The one that Yuri actually used during his competitions that season?"

"That? I made the revised version by asking an old friend of mine to help out. She used to skate competitively too, but not anymore. Anyways, we got together and I asked for her help in making Yuri's song. That's about it." Holly explained.

"You had a friend that was a competitive skater?" Phichit asked. "Why'd she stop?"

Holly's face turns slightly dark. She maintains her smile nonetheless, but Phichit could feel the change in the air around them.

He regrets that question. "Sorry. I didn't mean to pry. That's none of my business."

"Thanks for understanding," Holly says in a quiet voice.

More shoppers pass by them, all of them scurrying along with their large carts full of decorations, food, and gifts, and their arms strung with giant shopping bags. All the while, Phichit tries to decide whether or not to end this conversation right now or to continue talking.

But in the end, he didn't have to say anything. Holly made the final decision.

"Well, it was nice seeing you, Phichit." She stands up and picks up the handle of her backpack. "But I got to go, I have things to do before the big family dinner for New Years. I'm sure you have things to do too."

"Uh, yeah! Sure, you go on ahead. Thanks for coming out here. Have a good New Year's!" Phichit waves farewell.

As soon as Holly is out of sight, Phichit takes out his phone and scrolls down to Yuri's name in his contacts list. He begins debating whether or not to tell him the news. The last thing he wants to give Yuri is false information. But…

"Ah whatever," Phichit's fingers typed across the tiny keyboard on his phone's screen. "What can I say? I can't leave him hanging."

 _Phichit: hey brave guy, remember what you were saying about Holly's friend helping her make your free skate song? Well, I asked her about it and she confirms that her friend was a skater! Yuri, I'm not trying to make you do anything stupid, but if you think the time is right, just ask what happened to her alright? Do your mom proud!_

* * *

 _St. Petersburg, Russia. Outdoor streets._

 _Yuri: that's what I'm trying to do right now! But thanks for the info anyways, mom. Just don't rush me, this fixing process is something very delicate, and cannot be rushed. ;)_

"Who are you texting?" Victor leaned his head over.

"Ah!" Yuri's phone nearly went flying into the road, but thankfully it did not. "Ahem. Why don't you take a guess?"

"Your mom."

Yuri smiles. "Eh. Close enough. My other mom, you know? The one who lived right next to my side the whole four years of college?"

Victor understood. "Ohhhh. _That_ mom. What was _she_ telling you?"

" _She_ was telling me to hurry up and go home to spend New Years with my family. And to be honest, Victor. I am overstaying my stay. I should be heading back soon." Yuri confesses.

Victor rushes in front of Yuri, stopping him. "It's fine. I'll go back with you. I may have settled things with you, but I still owe apologies to the rest of your family and friends. They were probably hurting as much as you were when I...never mind. Look, if you're going to leave, I'm not letting you leave alone."

Yuri felt his head soar into the clouds, but he couldn't let himself stay in dreamland forever and snaps back to reality. "What about your folks? Won't they be disappointed if you're not there for New Year's?"

"They'll understand. Besides, I've never missed a single New Year's with them since I moved out. I'm sure this one time won't bother them too much." Victor assures.

"But still. It's family. I can't let you do this. Oh, wait! Why don't you invite them over to my place? My parents certainly won't mind!" Yuri suggests enthusiastically.

"Oh, but I'll certainly do mind!" Victor cries in a horrified tone. "Trust me. If your folks had a hard enough time dealing with me and Yurio's presence last time, then they'll be swept out of the country with my parents being there...more specifically...my mom…"

That only got Yuri more interested instead of discouraged. "Why? I'm sure she's not that bad, besides the more enthusiasm we have under the roof, the better! How bad could she be?"

"Imagine the most dramatic middle aged woman you can think of and multiply that by ten! Honestly, if you thought _I_ was dramatic, just you wait!"

Yuri holds back a snort. "Like mother, like son...she sounds like a wonderful woman, I can't wait to meet her!" He steps aside from Victor and continues walking down the street.

"No! I promise you, you don't!"

"I do."

"No, you don't!"

"Oh, but I do."

Victor runs in front of Yuri once again, with his arms flinging about. "No, you really don't! What will it take?"

"How about you tell me what came in between you and Liv that cleaved you two's relationship right here, right now?" Yuri suggests.

"She found the love of her life in Studio Ghibli, got married, quit skating, and now has three kids of her own, named Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. Happy?"

Yuri's jaw detaches itself from his face and falls to the ground. "Wait really!?"

Five seconds passed. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds—"No." Victor answers with a face as blank as a white piece of paper. "Haha! Did you actually believe that—"

 _Yank!_ Victor's scarf was suddenly tugged by a force so strong, the top arm wrestler in the world wouldn't have been able to free him from this iron grip. The scarf was tightened around his neck until he was gasping for air.

"...Yu—ri…I'm...sor—ry…" Victor wheezes.

Yuri's face is as dark as night. He loosens his grip on Victor's scarf only a tiny bit, enough for him to not die of suffocation.

"Well, I don't accept that apology. I've been more than gracious to you, ever since I arrived here, I've been more than tolerating with your attitude and sensitivity regarding Liv. Can you please just tell me what happened?" Yuri demands.

Victor's hands tightened around Yuri's grip on his scarf. "If I do tell you right here, right now, will you look at me the same way?"

Yuri's grip loosens even more. "What do you mean?"

"You always looked up to me before we even got together. Saw me as some kind of hero, idol, father, brother, friend, boyf—"

"Ok! I get it!"

"That's what you say now, it's what you might say after that frightens me." Victor gently yanks Yuri's hands away from his scarf and catches his breath.

Yuri offers Victor some of his bottled water, which he immediately accepts. Yuri sighs. "But I know that Liv made it into the Sochi Olympics, back at the NHK Trophy, Yurio and I found out from one of your rinkmates that you've already mentioned—"

"Who?" Victor jerks his head back to Yuri.

"Laurel Kopeykin."

Victor nods. "Right. Of course. Laurel, she's nicknamed _the natural performer_. Was selected for the Sochi Olympics, but sustained a grave knee injury about a month before the events. An accident involving a crash and a harness with Georgi. I saw the entire event play before my eyes that day. It was...awful."

Yuri cringes at the sound of that, remembering his own not too recent hip injury. "How did Georgi get away unscathed while Laurel was pulled from the ladies singles?"

"He only sustained a small flesh wound. Besides, it wasn't exactly a crash, more like a slight bump, but that was enough to send Laurel flying off balance and fracture her knee."

"I see...so Liv was chosen as the alternate to replace Laurel right?"

Victor nods. "Uh huh. She was ready to leave for the US when Yakov and I revealed the news to her. The Union couldn't get in touch with her, so we went. Managed to get her to stay and join the Olympic team."

* * *

 _Jan. 2014._

"Why don't they send Mila instead? I'm pretty sure they all wanted to send her as an alternate if you never negotiated with them. They probably only chose me out of guilt, feeling like they owe you or something." Liv gestures to Yakov.

"You're on the team now, Liv! That's not something you should just give away!" Yakov presses.

"You deserve this, you placed first!" Victor adds.

Liv isn't convinced. "No. I didn't. _You_ placed first, Victor. My gold medal was a fake, I failed to uphold my end. Nobody in this country thinks I deserve that gold."

"All the more reason for you to stay here!" Victor yanks the giant suitcase Liv was holding in her hand. "The _Olympics_ , Liv! The biggest international event of the year! You won't be against only your teammates, but other competitors worldwide! _Make_ them think the gold you won is not rigged."

Liv gingerly rubs her hand from Victor's yank and sighs. She remains silent for a minute or so. "The Olympics...every athlete's dream since they were little, mine included. _Sigh._ How do you want to schedule practice dates?"

"As soon as you unpack all of these suitcases and cancel your flight." Victor puts the suitcase back down in front of her.

Yakov steps forward. "Are you still using that outdoor rink, Liv?"

"Yeah."

"Come to our rink every morning at five. The Forhan arena isn't used during that time there. You can use it for your own practice. Victor and I can oversee you at around four every afternoon when you finish your classes. How's that?" Yakov suggests.

Liv's former gloomy expression brightens. "Thank you so much. I guess I should start unpacking, again, thanks, guys." The apartment door closes in front of them.

Victor and Yakov walk down the hall to the elevator, then going out to the parking lot. They talk on the way to their individual cars.

"Hey, hey, hey, Yakov. Getting more comfortable around her now, eh?" Victor playfully nudges his coach. "'Come to our rink every morning at five. The Forhan arena is reserved for you at all times! Yours truly, Yakov Feltsman.' Aww!'"

"Don't push me." Yakov rubs the area where Victor nudged him. "I'm just making sure you don't fall behind, my responsibility as your coach. You should know that by now, especially since you're taking a student under your wing. I hope you know what you're doing."

"Honestly, Yakov...I didn't exactly want her to stay because she's on the Olympic team now. I just wanted her...to not leave, I guess?"

Yakov is silent. Victor is not comfortable with that silence. "Haha! Kind of selfish of me, right? Forcing her to—"

"Victor!" Yakov's voice echoes throughout the parking lot. "This is exactly what I was afraid of! I knew that you had ulterior motives when picking up Liv as a student, or should I say a minor infatuation! If she doesn't do well at the Olympics, the fault will be on you! You disappoint me."

Victor is not prepared for Yakov to leave with things like this between them. "That's not entirely true! I only realized these feelings now, never when I first met her. I do know what I'm doing! I want her to do well! Just like you want me to do well!"

Yakov relaxes a bit. "I see. Well then, I see that you're also very oblivious in situations like this."

"What? What am I missing?" Victor leans in.

"Have you recently asked Liv what feelings she harbors? Or is this coach-student thing purely professional?" That is the last question Yakov asks before walking to his car and driving away.

Victor stands there, thinking about what Yakov just said. "'Feelings she harbors…?'Damnit, old man! I know what you mean! Quit being so poetic with me. I'll ask her after...after the Olympics, maybe…"

* * *

 _Present time._

Yuri is sitting on a bench in the large shopping center that Victor dragged him to. Turns out, Victor was slacking on his holiday shopping and needed a New Year's Eve present for his parents.

"Or else 'they'll make me wear that hideous...striped and plaid turtleneck sweater again…,' what's so bad about it?" Yuri wonders aloud. "Nobody's going to see it but your parents, unless you're in a public area."

Victor clenches his fists. "You get it, Yuri! It's not so much that I have to wear that sweater, but the fact that it's my mom who'll make me do it! I love her and all, but she's just...a bit too much to handle sometimes—OI! Look at that beautiful work of art!"

Victor suddenly runs over to a jewelry store's display window. In that display window, the largest, shiniest, and probably most expensive-looking, diamond studded gold necklace Yuri have ever seen, hung on a large black mannequin.

Yuri sits down against the window, dropping the rest of the shopping bags on the ground while wiping some sweat away from his head. Who knew that shopping with Victor would be such as workout?

Victor is still pressed against the glass window of the displayed item, his eyes watering from its sheer lust. "Ohhhhhhh, how much do I have right now? Come on! Yes! More than enough! Let's go in, Yuri!"

Yuri heaves as he struggles to stand up with the heavy shopping bags needling through his arms. "Make this quick."

And so, Victor bought the necklace and then went to several more stores to look for several other items to add to the necklace. A new pair of sunglasses, perfume bottles, makeup kit, and scarves. Poor Yuri is getting more than enough exercise he needs in a single day!

Then, Victor moves on to looking for another category of gift items, more specifically male items this time. From smartwatches to new styluses, USB, and more, Victor has yet to find something to buy.

Yuri pulls on Victor's sleeve from behind, signaling to him for a break. "How do you do this?" Yuri moans. "This spree is twice as long as the one back in Barcelona!"

Victor gently puts a hand on Yuri's warm forehead and releases his arms from the load of shopping bags. "When you're an only child, you're either a 'mom's kid' or a 'dad's kid,' I was the 'mom's kid.' And let's say that she was equivalent to a professional shopper."

"'Was?' How about now?" Yuri asks breathlessly.

Victor waves a hand at him. "Nah. At this day and age? I doubt she could handle half an hour with the load you're carrying Yuri!"

"Aha! I knew you looked familiar!" A middle-aged woman's voice suddenly appears from behind the two men. " _Sigh_...and you didn't even bother to call me or your father when you came back to St. Petersburg…"

Yuri immediately turns around as soon as he heard that from the woman. Behind them, is a tall silver-haired woman who looked to be about in her late forties, she wore an attire that most women these days would die for, and in her arms strung a load of shopping bags TWICE AS LARGE as Yuri's load!

"Victor~come on, won't even turn around to say 'hi,' to your mom?" She singsongs.

Victor continues to sit with his back turned around, a smile plastered on his face while Yuri attempts to make him stand up. "Victor, that's your mom? Oh, my…"

"Hi...mom…" Victor manages.

Mrs. Nikiforov puts down all of her bags and skips over to Victor, yanking him to his feet. "Oh my goodness! Look at how much you've grown! It's only been, like, a few months, but it felt like five years! I was so worried about you ever since you moved to Japan and— _gasp_!"

She drops Victor to the ground and diverts all of her attention to the flustered Yuri behind them. Grabbing both of his hands, Mrs. Nikiforov begins speaking a mile a minute again.

"Are you him? Yuri Katsuki? You look even more adorable in real life, I always thought you were cute on tv, but here? It doesn't compare! Victor, why didn't you take me and your father to meet him formally? Oh never mind that, look at you, my dear! Soft hair, gentle eyes, nice smooth skin, a look of innocence hiding the potential for seduction, oh! My boy, you're an angel from heaven!" Mrs. Nikiforov gushes.

Yuri never felt so flustered all his life! His face turns beet red and he is smiling like crazy. "Oh my god, this is amazing...th—thank you, ma'am!"

"Oh, pppfffffftttttt, 'ma'am' makes me sound like an old lady, call me Nicole! Nicole Nikiforov!"

"Of course. Sure." Yuri agrees without hesitation.

Victor jumps in between his mother and fiance. "Mom. Can you _please_ tone down a bit? It's making him very nervous."

"Oh?" Nicole tilts her head. "Making Yuri nervous? Or...you?" She gently touches Victor on the tip of his nose in a teasing fashion.

Yuri begins laughing. It's all so clear now! So that's where Victor gets his overdramaticness from...she really is ten times worse than Victor! Nicole pulls Victor into her arms, squeezing him in a tight choking embrace.

"Ahhh, come here, treasure! I really did miss you! You only come home for holidays and birthdays, but you never update us on your life outside! I had to find out from Yakov that day when you left for Japan! You didn't even wait for me to say goodbye to you at the airport!" Nicole scoffs.

Victor tries to pull away from his mom's hug. "Mmhmm. And there's a clear reason to that! If I told you about why I left for Japan, you're going to try and come along and peep into the details of my reason to go!"

"Is there a problem to that? Seriously, Victor! I already assumed you left because you found a special someone there!" Nicole gestures to Yuri proudly. "And what a special someone! What number is Yuri again? Oh right. Number 17!"

Yuri is confused as to that. "'Number 17…?'"

Nicole nods. "17th person Victor thought to be his soulma—"

"Mmmoooommmm!" Victor's voice barely sounded like his voice at all. He forces himself out of his mom's arms and grabs Yuri's shoulders.

"It's alright, Yuri! Number 17 is very special! You're the longest lasting relationship I've had out of all of my relationships!" Victor assures in a panicked tone.

Yuri sweats. _So I'm only number 17? Holy shit...Victor really is experienced. And no different from the way he used to think of him, a real confident person who gets along with nearly everybody, and a bit of a player…_

Nicole puts a finger to her chin. "That's right, Yuri really is the longest-lasting one, but what about that previous girl? I really thought that one was going to hit off, I was even beginning to plan the wedding reception—"

"Nay!" Victor quickly runs to his mom and takes her into a nearby store.

Yuri can see their figures behind the frosted display windows before Victor and his mom emerges again and walks back to Yuri. Nicole seems to have lost a bit of her enthusiasm from before, but Victor seems to be very relieved.

"I understand everything now," Nicole says in a cool voice. "First of all…"

Nicole puts a hand on Yuri's shoulder and looks at him with sympathetic eyes. "Yuri, I am so sorry for any of the pain my son has caused you."

"Oh no, no, no! It's fine, really! Things are great between us right now! Don't worry about a thing, Nicole!" Yuri assures, but really, he wasn't too sure either.

"Mmm. Alright, second of all…" Nicole turns around back to Victor and yanks him by the hair. Victor winces from the grip. "You! Victor! You'd better call your father as soon as we leave this mall, he's going to want to know about this new boyfriend of yours!"

"Mom! Stop pushing me, alright? I promise I'll call him! Have I ever forgotten about promises before?" Victor challenges.

"You forgot about the promise you made to Yurio that you'd make him a short program for his senior debut." Yuri states matter of factly.

"Whose side are you on?" Victor cries.

"The honest one," Yuri replies.

Nicole agrees. "Mmmmm, it'a very like you to forget promises. I mean look at all 17 of your past ex-soulmates. Didn't you tell every single one of them that you promise to be with him/her forever?"

"Seriously, mom. Stop. It."

" _Gasp_! Maybe that's why you're losing hair! Yakov divorced from his wife and he's half bald! You broke up 17 times! No wonder you're balding at such a young age!"

"Ughhhh…" Victor flops to the ground in defeat.

Yuri sweats with worry. "I think you went a little far, Nicole."

"No worries, Yuri-dear. He's just being a drama queen. Don't know where he gets that from though...right Yuri?"

Yuri sweats even more. "Ugh, heh, heh...rrriiiiggghhhttt…"

Nicole picks up Victor with both hands, helping him back to his feet. "Well, gentlemen. Do you need a ride home or what? It's snowing pretty hard right now."

"No thanks, we can walk—"

"What a grateful offer! Thanks, Nicole!" Yuri interrupts. "Pssttt. She's your mom, come on." He whispers in Victor's ear.

Victor sighs in defeat. "Only because you're Yuri…"

Nicole happily picks up all their shopping bags single-handedly and begins walking towards the main entrance of the mall. Halfway there, she pulls out her cell phone.

"Hello, Kostner? Guess who I bumped into while on my New Year's spree. That's it! Yeah, so you'd better come back early tonight! He's brought his 'reason for leaving St. Petersburg without a single call' with him! Tonight calls for a celebration!" Nicole exclaims.

Victor hides behind Yuri. "Oh boy…"

"I'm really liking your family so far Victor…" Yuri teases.

"Do me a favor and never bring my mom to Hasetsu, I might end up giving your folks a premature death…"

* * *

 **Writing Victor's mom is really fun! I wasn't planning to insert her at first but after a discussion with my younger sister (my partner in writing), I created the character of Nicole Nikiforov, Victor's mom, from the back of my head. It all started with my sister asking me, "what's Victor's mom like when she saw her son became famous?" And it ended like this.**

 **I've made Victor's mom someone who's supportive and doting of her son, instead of distant, like in so many other fanfics that I read that contained Victor's parents in there. Most of them had his parents being doubtful about his relationship with Yuri and his type of lifestyle, but I want to make them seem more loving and warm here.**

 **Anyways, that's that. No chapters for awhile once again. But the summer's coming soon, so I hope I'll catch up on the writing schedule. Besides, I'm planning on making this fic go all the way to the 2018 Peonychang Olympics! YYEEAAHHHH! I'm rooting for you, Satoko Miyahara! (I'm a big fan of her! :D)**

 **Wish me luck on next week's exams! Peace out! :D**


	20. 2014 Team Trophy

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic. (This is getting pretty tiresome writing it over and over again...)**

 **Omigosh, I'm so so so so sorry for the wait! I know that I promised to release more chapters during the summer months, but it was harder than expected. I'm doing co-op right now, so I barely have time to work on this during the week from Monday to Friday, and I have music history lessons, which take out even more time! On top of that, I have my regular piano practices to worry about!**

 **Ugh! I'm starting to think I may never catch a break! But for the sake of this story and its readers, I WILL NOT SUBMIT TO STRESS! NEVER!**

 **So here! A new chapter! Now just let me collapse on my bed and sleep...**

* * *

 **Ch. 18: 2014 Team Trophy**

 _Present time. Victor's parent's home._

"And here's a video of him when I took him skating for the first time!" Nicole switches the video again with a click of the remote control.

On the large tv screen, appeared a small three-year old boy, tightly bundled up in a thick layer of winter clothing, it was so thick that if he were to fall, he would probably start rolling!

Yuri leans forward and fawns. "Aww! So cute!" He looks over to the other side of the sofa, where Victor is seemingly taking a nap.

"Victor? Aren't you going to complain about this?"

"Nah. You were expecting that weren't you? Well, if only I could...you see, my mom's shown this to almost all of my past…'significant others,' that by now I'm immune to embarrassment. Nothing to be ashamed about." Victor slumps back down against the throw pillow.

"Oh my, Victor. I didn't realize your dignity's been damaged that much…" Yuri comforts.

Victor winces upon hearing that. His dignity is still here! Somewhere...oh whatever. Nicole laughs over what Yuri just said. Loud footsteps entered the living room, Yuri turns around to see Victor's dad, Nicole's husband, Kostner come in.

Yuri met Kostner a little earlier, he was a very calm and friendly man, the kind of guy everyone would want to be friends with. He's got this really assuring and trustworthy aura about him, unlike his wife and son.

"Finally finished with printing, hon?" Nicole asks as she hands the remote to him.

Kostner nods. "You have to keep it down a bit, Nicole. Look, he's sleeping again." He points to Victor, who was fully unconscious by now.

"And you call yourself his 'dad,' when clearly, you know nothing about him, watch this." Nicole stands up and whips out her phone. Placing the speakers right next to Victor's face, she presses a button.

🎝 _We were, born to make history!_

 _We'll make it happen, we'll turn it around_

 _Yes, we were, born to make history!_ 🎝

The song was loud and sudden, causing both Yuri and Kostner to cover their ears. However, Victor was surprisingly unaffected despite his close proximity to the cell phone. Yep, he continued to sleep soundly like a baby.

Nicole turns off her phone and smugly smirks. "See? Out like a light. Just like back then. _Sigh_. And I thought just graduating college is enough to make him more mature."

Kostner shakes his head at his wife but is clearly amused by his son's amazing sleeping abilities. He takes out his phone and connects it to the tv via airplay.

Nicole looks at him confusingly. "Hon, what are you doing?"

"I think I know how to wake Victor up." Kostner gestures to Yuri. "Yuri, you have the honour of learning the secret initiation process that every single one of Yakov's students has to go through in order to train with him."

Immediately, Victor sat up from his sleeping position and ran over to his dad, desperately trying to steal his phone.

"No! No! Anything but that! No one's allowed to see that!" Victor cries.

Kostner easily dodges all of the attempts. "Sorry Victor, but it's something not only for Yuri to see. Your mom deserves to know about this too."

"What? What is this about?" Nicole asks.

"What is this 'secret initiation process?' Does it have to do with Yakov?" Yuri asks.

Kostner selects a video from his phone and a loading screen appears on the tv. "Haha, you'll see."

* * *

 _Yakov's initiation process for accepting new skaters!_

The large arena was filled with several skaters, ranging from preteens to post-secondary students, intermediates to seniors, male and female, but all of them had one thing in common. They were all under, or partly under the tutelage of Yakov.

And today, they were about to receive a new skater entering their rink.

A new intermediate skater, a young silver-haired preteen with a giddy attitude, knelt one knee on the ice while crossing one arm across his chest and the other across his back, smiling excitedly nonetheless.

The spectating skaters all looked down carefully, fully prepared to what's about to happen.

Yakov enters the scene, hands in his pockets and a serious expression plastered on his face. He slowly glides around the little Victor, examining his stance and facial expression, he begins speaking.

"So, you think you have what it takes to be here? To train under these circumstances? To represent this club?" Yakov's voice echoes across the arena.

Victor is not fazed yet. "Yes, sir!"

"Well guess what?" Yakov stops abruptly in front of Victor, scraping up some snow from his blades. "If you already had what it took, you'd be here long ago! Working on your exhibition right now for an upcoming Regionals competition! But you're not, I wonder why."

"I wanted to end things with my old coach before the start of the new season then come to you!" Victor answers without hesitation. "That is why, sir!"

Yakov leans back a bit, this kid isn't as soft as his previous candidates, but he doesn't seem too clever either. Wanting to see more of what his potential student is made of, Yakov continues to interrogate.

"So you want to start the new season fresh with me, eh?" He asks.

"Mmhmm!"

"To begin at five every morning and train until five in the afternoon?"

"Mmhmm!"

"To exert yourself until every single muscle in your body is crying out in pain and not even the gods will grant you a slice of mercy?"

"Yes!"

"To stick to any regiment, no matter how tough, how stressful, it may be. From plyometrics to weight-lifting, you're ready for that?"

"Yea—wait, what?" Victor asks again after hearing the mention of 'weight-lifting.'

Unfortunately, Yakov does not have the time nor patience to repeat what he just said and continues on. "To dedicate yourself to this sport, to this country, even when you feel that all eyes are gazing upon you menacingly, even when you feel no support, will you still stay?"

"Uh—yeah, sure!" By now, Victor is only half-listening, fifty percent of his mind was focusing on the possibility of bench presses again.

Yakov slowly reaches into his pockets again before revealing a medium-sized glassy object in his right hand, he stares intently at Victor, who is more confused by now than intimidated. Yakov brings the object above Victor's head where it came into direct contact with the sunlight.

There, Victor could see what the object was. A black rimmed magnifying glass shone above him, focusing a single of beam of light on his head...

"Victor Nikiforov. In this club, there is only one thing that we fight for. One thing that we strive for. One reason that we're here…"

A light painful sensation blossoms on Victor's head, exactly where the beam of light from the magnifying glass is directed on. He sucks in his breath and tries to focus on what Yakov is saying.

"No matter how painful the injuries, how heartbreaking the losses, how unfair the results, you will not flinch! You will not submit! Instead, you will make it through that event, you will move on and only become stronger, no less! Because in this club, our one goal is…"

Alarms began ringing inside Victor's head as he feels smoke emerging from his ears. Water, water! His larynx threatens to release the scream he's been trying to keep down this whole time. Biting his lip and squinting his eyes, Victor tightens his entire body to make it look like he's taking this seriously.

Yakov is about to get to the climax of his speech. With one majestic finger, he points towards the large glass window at the top of the arena, where the sunlight was coming in from. Victor follows the man's finger to the beams of the golden rays.

"...out there! Beyond the line of possibility! The gold is waiting to be claimed! Take it, before your opponents do!"

That's it, that's the end. "SIR, YES, SIR!" Victor cries at the top of his lungs. He's pretty sure there's a distinct burn mark on his head by now.

Yakov puts the magnifying glass away and puts a firm hand on Victor's shoulder. "You pass. I look forward to working with you." With that, Yakov skates off the ice, leaving Victor there still on one knee and with his arms crossed.

Finally, the sound of the large metal door clangs shut, confirming that Yakov has left the arena. All of the spectating skaters rushed down to the ice where they bend their knees and tense their arms, almost as if they were preparing for a battle.

 _Five...four...thr—_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

And Victor's vocal cords finally let out that long overdue scream.

One of the male senior skaters shouted, "that's 2.5 seconds! Go, go! Hurry!"

Immediately, Victor is picked up by nearly the entire group of skaters while the rest ran ahead to make way for the group coming through.

"Make way! Make way!"

"Coming through, 'scuse us!"

"Another 'Yakov victim' coming through!"

"Get to the washroom!"

The group of skaters carrying Victor rushes into the male washroom and one of the skaters that running in the front grabbed an empty bottle before filling it with cool tap water. Two senior skaters held Victor over the sink while the other poured the water over his head.

They continued this until Victor's screams subsided along with most of the pain.

A female skater runs up with some sterile dressing and places it over Victor's head. "Don't worry kid, the mark won't last forever, but it will be kind of noticeable for awhile. Due to your hair colour and all."

"Well, kid. Welcome to the gang. All of us here, we all had those burns. The same thing will happen to the future candidates." Another skater explains.

Victor gingerly touches the top of his head where the sterile dressing was. "Is this why he's such a great coach?"

* * *

 _Present day._

Nicole and Yuri stare at the tv screen, jaws dropped and eyes as wide as sauce pans. While Victor wept in his father's arms.

Kostner stroked his son's silver hair. "Ah, there, there. The worst part's done. You can stop being a baby now."

Yuri continues to stare at the screen shockingly, but Nicole has moved onto a new emotion. And that is rage.

In exactly _three and a half_ steps, Nicole went from the living room to the kitchen and then emerged with a giant frying pan.

That's when Kostner loses his cool.

"Nicole! Nicole! Hon!" He runs across the room and stops her from opening the front door to exit.

Nicole claws right back at her husband. "Let go me! I'm paying Mr. Feltsman a visit! No _one_ does that to my kid and lives! _No one!_ "

Kostner sighs and lets go of Nicole, leaning against the wall next to the door. She was about to leave again when he speaks once more.

"I don't see what's the big deal about," Kostner answers in a tired voice. "If the burn was really bad, why didn't you notice it all those years ago on Victor? You spend more time with him than I do after all!"

Nicole slowly let's go of the doorknob and turns to face Kostner. "I guess...but—"

"And," Kostner continues. "It's getting late. You don't want to give Yakov any more gray hairs than he already has. The poor man's life span is shortening with every new student he receives."

Nicole happily puts the frying pan back in the kitchen. "I guess you're right! Time to call it a day!"

Victor, who is being cradled in Yuri's lap since his father ran to stop his mother from going on her _kill Yakov death mission_ , suddenly reaches up and pulls Yuri by his sweater.

"Yuri…" he groans. "I'm scared of you sleeping by yourself, sleep with me!"

Yuri opens his mouth to protest but Nicole has beaten him to it. The giddy mother wraps an arm around Victor's waist and pulls him to her.

"No, Victor!" She cries. "I haven't seen you in a millennium! Sleep with mommy! I'm lonely!"

"Hey, Nicole," Kostner shouts from the other side of the room, his face buried behind a large newspaper. "I'm lonely too."

"No, you're not!" Nicole shouts back. "I give you your 'fantasy nights' every Saturday! Tonight is clearly mommy and sonny time!"

"F—fantasy nights?" Yuri repeats.

Suddenly, a very, very, very inappropriate and disturbing image of Kostner and Nicole pops up in Yuri's mind. His face heats up and his back shudders at it.

Victor squirms out of his mother's arms and covers Yuri's ears. "He did not need to hear that!"

Nicole laughs. "I apologize, Yuri, Kostner may seem like your average everyman kind of guy, but he's very needy sometimes. Though, I don't ever recall him giving _me_ the time of day! It's always me who's keeping him happy. Makes me wonder why he even approached me back in college."

"I'm a simple man, Nicole. You were hot." Kostner answers.

"Well, that just turned me off," Nicole grunts as she walks towards the guest room. "As a matter of fact, I think I'll be sleeping by myself tonight!"

"Wait, I just realized something. If Victor is serious about getting together with Yuri, which family name are we going to use in the future?" Kostner suddenly wonders.

"Yuri, we'll be using your last name!" Nicole declares without hesitation. "I'm sick and tired of sharing the same last name as this stranger! 'Sides, your last name is waayyy cuter. Anyways, I'm out!"

 _SLAM!_

Kostner stands up and folds his newspaper. "Yuri, you can take Victor's room. I'll be staying on the sofa-bed tonight. Safest place to be from that crazy lady."

He turns his attention to Victor. "Victor...you choose where you want to be, whatever. Good night, my favourite skaters."

With that, Kostner goes to the washroom to wash up, leaving the two men alone together. Victor looked at Yuri with puppy eyes, waiting expectedly. Yuri feels his face flush as he thinks about the options for where to stay tonight.

"Uh...where do you want to go?"

"Wherever _you_ are!" Victor falls back on the couch behind them. "Whew! I haven't been back home for like half-a-year and yet, it felt like a decade! Maybe I should really visit more often…"

"Is it alright if I take your dad's room?" Yuri suddenly asks.

Victor, surprisingly, doesn't jump back or act shocked in any way. "Yeah, sure, go ahead. Good choice, Yuri. The bed is king-sized in there!"

Yuri sighs and shakes his head. "That's not the reason why I asked. It's pretty far from the other rooms, so your parents won't be bothered by us talking."

Victor sits up, smiling sweetly. "You want bedtime stories?"

"Absolutely." Yuri answers in a fake excited voice. "A story about the events at the Sochi Olympics!"

"Well, let's get ready first…"

* * *

 _Feb. 6, 2014. Iceberg Skating Palace. Team Trophy: Men's short_

Today is the day of the first event of the Team Trophy at the 2014 Sochi Olympics! Basically, qualified countries send a team of skaters, each representing one of the four disciplines, men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.

The countries can choose at most, two skaters or couples for each discipline, and the purpose for that is to allow a different skater or couple to skate the free skate after the short program. But they can have a single skater or couple to skate both programs, that really depends on the country and their athletes.

There are ten countries competing, but only five will remain to compete in the free skate event. The men's short program is today. All the representing skaters want to do their country proud, but it won't happen for half of them.

This is it. The chance to shine. You either crush it or blow it.

First skater up is the skater from Great Britain, Robb Parr. He skates to _Elrking_. The program is vibrant and sends the feeling of urgency and fear so great, that it gave the audience—and some spectating skaters, goosebumps.

Victor is among those spectating skaters. He shivers while watching from the stands and rubs his arms for warmth. Constantine and Mila sit next to him, also entranced by the British skater's dark and melancholy performance.

Victor could see some unease in Constantine's eyes, however. After all, Constantine has been selected to skate the short program tonight. Victor himself is going to be skating the free skate two days later, he still has plenty of time to remain relaxed.

"Hey." Victor nudges Constantine by the arm. "Stop gawking at the first skater, you'll lose faith in yourself."

"There's a difference between gawking and admiring, Victor. I'm simply getting some information here so I can input more into my program and put my opponents." Constantine explains.

Mila grins. "You're so amazing and calm, Constantine! I won't be surprised if you win tonight!"

"Eh? What about me?" Victor asks. "Or am I so great, that you think I can win by default?"

"Nope." Mila shrugs. "If you can focus on your program entirely, then you can win by default. I mean, it's pretty obvious you have something big on your mind lately. A significant other perhaps?"

Victor laughs out loud, but Constantine agrees with Mila. "She's right, Victor. Who is he or she? Whatever you were in the mood for that day."

Mila begins pointing all around the arena. "It is him? Her? Or that tall sexy one over there? I think he suits you very well! Oh no! Never mind! It's that Italian girl right?"

Constantine shakes his head. "You got it all wrong, Mila. Victor doesn't go for those types. Being his rinkmate ever since novice, I know that he has a thing for the innocent or feisty ones. Like our local boy, Maximus Noda."

"What about Max?" A teenage boy's voice suddenly appears behind them.

Yuri. P walks up to the three older skaters with a guy and girl that looked his age walking next to him. They were Mike Dahmer and Norah Meyer, junior skaters that are also under Yakov's tutelage. Yuri. P's rinkmates.

Norah jumps towards Victor, leaning in close. "You have a thing for Max? Don't worry. I'm not against it. If it makes you happy, I'll be the first to join this new ship."

Victor slowly turns to face the fifteen-year-old girl. "My dear partner in crime, you have made a grave mistake. Max is the one who has a thing for me. And for me to stop constantly thinking about it, I have to be given some peace and quiet right now, and just be left to enjoy these amazing short programs."

Robb Parr finishes his short program with an 87.40, putting him in first place for the time being. The next skater is from Italy, Stefan Orlando, skating to _Requiem for a Tower_.

Victor holds his breath as he watches the program, he remembers the time when he was choosing songs for his new short program and this song was one of them, but in the end, he settled on _Pan's Labyrinth_.

Constantine's face shows no change in emotion, but his hands show otherwise. Unlike his eyes, his hands are shaking and his fingers fidgeting. It is clear. He is definitely nervous.

Fourth skater to go, he should technically be down at the boards, warming up, but Yakov is understanding enough to let him sit up at the stands until the end of the second performance.

Stefan has fallen twice in his program, but manages to finish with a score of 83.98, putting him in second for the time being. Victor keeps his eyes on the ice as the third skater goes on and Constantine is waiting by the boards.

Ukrainian skater, Samuel Boiko, skates to _Symphonie Fantastique._ No falls happened here, but Samuel was being very careful. His face and expression barely hid the anixety behind it. Still, he ends up topping the previous two skaters and place first with a score of 90.81.

The skater many have been waiting for skates onto the ice. Constantine's entry is met with a shower of cheers, and maniacal screams from a few of his rinkmates. The silence before the music was killing them, but as soon as it comes on, they were brought back to life again.

 _Love's dream_ plays from the loudspeakers and Constantine begins his emotional heartfelt program. Beginning with a strong quadruple salchow/triple loop, Constantine fixes all eyes on him and only him. The program goes from gentle, to urgent in the middle of it, and finally returns to the same gentleness from the start.

Just like the context of the song. Victor folds his arms and watches on, Constantine is always so good at interpreting music, but he also delivers the technical aspects into his performances, and that's what gives him the high scores.

Finishing with a simple backscratch spin from the combination spin, Constantine ends the program and scores a 92.98, setting the bar high for the next skaters to go, and putting him in first place.

The rest of the short program performances ranges from spectacular to mediocre. A few skaters manages to catch Victor's eye, such as the Canadian champion, Jean-Jacques Leroy. Victor also knows JJ from previous competitions, but from he saw from today, doesn't compare to any of his previous performances. JJ added a new sense of maturity today, and that did him good. He places third with an 89.01.

Another skater who stood out was the veteran skater from Japan, Nobuo Adachi, who skates with such grace and stability, that Victor truly believed he would've won if not for a two-footed landing on his triple axel. But Nobuo clung onto second place with a score of 92.79.

Nobuo is the last skater of the men's short program, confirming and concluding the results. The top five skaters currently are, Constantine from Russia, Nobuo from Japan, JJ from Canada, Yu Han from China, and Peter Moreau from France.

* * *

 _Feb. 8, 2014. Iceberg Skating Palace. Team Trophy: Ladies Short._

Today is the day for the ladies short program, and after last night's men's and pairs' short programs, the top five countries currently are Russia, Canada, Italy, Japan, and the US, but that's only currently. After today's events, the five countries to move onto the free skate will be confirmed.

First skater up the representative from Canada, Gaby Leonhart, who skates to _Carmen._ Victor sits with his same rinkmates from yesterday in the same area. The whole lot of them watch as Gaby skates a flawless and sassy program, finishing with a score of 66.48.

"Nice start for the short program!" Norah claps enthusiatically.

Mike looks at her with curiosity. "Don't be so hasty to judge, Norah. Besides, aren't we really here to cheer on Annie? I mean, she is doing her short program today."

Yuri. P nods. "Honestly, I'm surprised that she made it into the Olympics at all, after her standings in the Nationals! Not that she's a bad skater or anything, in fact, I think she's one of the best out there, but...I'm just surprised."

Victor silently cringes at the memory of that day when he read the list of the ones who made the Olympic team. "And that's why she's chosen, little Yuri. Because she's one the best out there!"

"The girl who placed first at the Nationals was good too." Constantine suddenly adds. "She's no Annie, but she's a strong skater in her own terms. She's not part of the team trophy, but she's Laurel's replacement for the individual events, right?"

"Yeah." Victor answers. _Why isn't she here watching the team events? Don't tell me that she got school projects to worry about in this moment!_

As the seventh skater goes onto the ice, Victor stands up and stretches. He's been sitting down for way too long! His legs are practically asleep by now!

The skater is a young blonde woman from the US named Jane Richette, Victor eagerly walks to the top of the stands, knowing that the next one up is Annie Vasin.

Halfway through Jane's short program, Victor catches a glimpse of a person waving at him not too far from his right side. It was Liv.

Smiling, he looks around to make sure his rinkmates aren't looking for him before making his way to Liv's side. Jane's short program is near its peak when Victor reaches Liv.

She exhales in relief. "Good for America. They've chosen a strong and fine skater to represent them. I hope they'll do good."

"I thought you hated that country." Victor smirks.

"No, I never did. _I_ thought that country hated _me_ , remember? I told you that. And I could never hate that country! I was born and raised there! A few fallouts isn't enough to deter me!"

"Hmm." Victor leans on the cold bars dividing him from the seats below. "Fine then, let's talk about something else. Annie! How do you think she'll do today?"

Liv didn't show much reaction other than peeking up a bit. "Oh Annie? She's going up next, right? Jane Richette just finished her performance." _And with a 64.15!_ "I think Annie will win the short program."

Victor is surprised to hear this. "You're not upset or anything?"

"Hey, as a skater, I greatly admire her skills. She's talented and amazing, but...a bit stiff sometimes. Then again, I have my flaws too, and yes, I am upset about the first Olympic Team list, but as a fellow skater, I have faith in her. That's all."

Annie Vasin steps onto the ice with a wave of applause following behind her. The audience quiets down as Annie prepares for the start of her short program to _Riverdance_.

Just like at the Nationals, Annie performs with confidence and sass to match the tone of the music, all of her jumps were as clean as ever. After landing her last jump, the double axel, Liv turns to Victor with a smirk and says, "told you."

Annie scores a 72.94, placing her in first for the time being. Everyone cheers when they saw the score being displayed and announced. None louder than Annie's rinkmates though, Victor included.

As he claps and cheers, he turns to see the rest of his rinkmates sitting on the other end of the arena, Yuri. P and Mila were already noticing his missing presence.

Not wanting them to go look for him, Victor decides to go back. "Liv, I guess I'll see you later."

"Not ready to introduce me to the rest of your friends?" She asks knowingly.

"Not ready for them to start losing faith in me for the free skate tomorrow." He corrects.

"Ah, I see. Then get out of here already! Focus on what's important!"

Victor nods quickly before turning around to speed walk back to the seats where his rinkmates are.

"Hey!" Liv shouts after him. "I'll be rooting for you!"

* * *

 _Feb. 9, 2014. Iceberg Skating Palace. Team trophy: men's free skate, ladies' free skate._

This day marks the end of the team trophy event. And after that, the skaters would have to focus on their actual events for this year's Olympics.

The first event of the day is the men's free skate, and after last night's end of the short programs, the countries that qualified for the free skate includes, Russia, Canada, Italy, the United States, and Japan.

The rest didn't make the cut. First skater of the men's free skate is Italy's Stefan Orlando, who also skated the short program two days ago. _Planets_ played from the loudspeakers as Stefan begins his free skate.

He falls on his first two jumps but manages to pick himself up after landing his third jump, the quadruple loop, cleanly. From there on, Stefan skated cleanly and majestically throughout his program.

Stefan scores a 172.48, placing him in first since no other skater has bested that score yet. The next skater is from the US, Luke Bryant. He skates to _Winter's Wind_ in a program filled with fast-paced strokes and crossovers with high jumps and rapid spins.

Only stumbling once in his quadruple toe loop/triple toe loop combination, Luke has the audience captivated by his advanced technical skills and ability to skate in time to the fast piano music.

The American audience all jump to their feet and wave their flags when Luke finishes his program, scoring a 182.15. New Canadian skater, Andrew Jarvis, takes the ice.

This is his first big international event since he moved up to the senior circuit. Only fifteen years old and barely meeting the requirements to compete in the Olympics, Andrew has the demanding eyes of the audience, all expecting to be blown away by him.

The pressure is on. _Moonlight Sonata_ is the song Andrew skates to, the beginning of his program is slow and melancholy. Then it slowly picks up the pace until the second half of the program, where the song moves into its third movement.

Rapid turns, stops, and crossovers were in sync with the notes itself. Victor looks closely at Andrew's face as he performs, he is in another world. Andrew's free skate captivated the hearts of all spectators and he quickly advances to first place with a 189.10.

Victor is up next. The atmosphere seems to have changed as soon as Andrew stepped off the ice. Excitement and anxiety filled the entire arena as the respected and untouched skating genius steps onto the ice.

Expectations are now higher than ever. Looking through the audience, Victor spots his rinkmates in the same seats as usual, all waving at him with their flags and some even brought giant plushies of brown poodles that resemble Makkachin. Victor shook his head and chuckles at the sight of them.

A little further down from his rinkmates, is Liv, leaning against the metal bars at the top of the arena, also cheering for him and behind her, is a large plastic bag filled with something he does not know. Oh whatever, his free skate is about to start anyway.

A hush fell over the arena as _Children_ plays from the loudspeakers. With the first stroke Victor takes, everyone's eyes were glued to him, he made sure of that. Nobody's attention will ever divert when he's on the ice!

The beginning of the program is gentle, slow, but has the essence of anxiety buried beneath it. The first few jumping passes were huge and successful, with smooth transitions in between. Then, after the third jump, the triple axel, the music picks up the pace and Victor goes into a death drop sit spin.

The audience claps in time as the music reaches its climax and is followed by a round of applause. A short energetic choreographic sequence showcases the peak section of the music that leads into the second half of the program. Once again, Victor lands all the jumps of the second half, earning the bonus that comes with it.

Going into a serpentine footwork sequence, the music begins picking up its pace again to reach the familiar climax a second time. He finishes the program with a rapid combination spin and pumps his fists into the air with joy.

Applause and cheers rain down upon him, along with toys, flowers, and many other items. Looking up to his rinkmates, he catches sight of Liv thrusting down the large plastic bag filled with something. Picking it up from the ice and skating off, he finds it to be full of...Makkachin-sized dog sweaters.

Victor scores a 192.68, setting the bar all over again and placing in first for the time being. Last skater of the men's free skate is Japan's Shinichi Chitose. He is very nervous as he steps onto the ice, after a performance by the skating genius himself, it is very difficult to top that, especially as last skater of this event.

Nonetheless, Shinichi performs with his head held high, to _Malaguena._ His technical skills are amazing, his artistic skills, even better. Despite coming after Victor, Shinichi didn't fail to swivel heads around. His performance goes from fast, to slow and gentle to fast and furious.

The rapid combination spin at the end got audiences to their feets and Victor swore, that the entire arena rumbled! Truly an amazing way to end the men's free skate. Shinichi scores a 188.93, placing him in third.

That's the end of the men's free skate, the results in order from first to last, Victor, Andrew, Shinichi, Luke, and Stefan. Next up is the ladies' free skate event.

 _Team trophy: ladies' free skate._

Victor sits with his rinkmates, carrying a large box of popcorn in one hand and the bag of Makkachin sweaters in the other. The team trophy is almost over! After the ladies' free skate, all that's left is the pairs' free skate and the results will be determined, along with the medal ceremony for this event.

And then they can bring their attention to preparing for their individual events coming up a few weeks later. Norah sneaks several handfuls of Victor's popcorn, he quickly takes it away from her.

"Hey!" He berates. " _My_ popcorn!"

Norah makes puppy eyes at Victor, but he simply rolls his eyes at her. "You have money, go buy your own popcorn!"

"Too far away." She complains before taking another handful from Victor's bag.

"You can share with me instead." Mike suddenly offers his bag of popcorn to Norah and sits in between her and Victor.

"Thanks!" She cries happily.

Victor whispers a 'thank you' to Mike who replies with a smile and a nod before talking about the start of the ladies' free skate. "Sonia Ivanov from Moscow is going to skate here. You think she'll do good?"

"Positive, she placed second at the Nationals and first at the GPF this year!" Victor cries.

"Let's hope for the best." Max joins in from the seat above Victor, also stealing a handful of popcorn from Victor's bag.

First skater up is Lindsey Beach from Canada. She skates to _Carnival of the Animals_ in a childish but interesting free skate. Stumbling only once in the second half of her program, Lindsey scores a 120.35, placing her in first.

Next up is the skater from the United States, Gloria Westchester. The song of her choice is _Morrowind_. It is epic and majestic, and Gloria shows those details through her expression, arm movements, and timing of her jumps. It is always on time with the right notes. An amazing free skate overall, she scores a 141.10, beating Lindsey and being in first.

The third skater is Japan's Maaya Yuzuki. _Almira_ plays from the loudspeakers and she begins her free skate. She stumbles on her first jump combination, but is superbly clean with the rest of her jumps. But it was her spins and footwork sequence that really made the audience wow, especially little Yuri. P, who dropped his handful of Victor's popcorn.

Maaya scores a 139.25, putting her behind Gloria, and in second place. Fourth skater to go is Sala Crispino from Italy. She is slightly not as experienced as the some other skaters, but more experienced than the skaters who just moved up to the senior circuit, which makes her someone in the middle.

Sala skates to _Divenire_. Her program is absolutely stunning, from her strong jump combinations to her powerful footwork sequences and intricate spin variations. Sala is finally making a mark for herself right here at the Sochi Olympics. She finishes strongly with a score of 150.89, placing in first for now.

Last skater of this event is Russia's girl, Sonia Ivanov. Victor never knew Sonia on a personal level, but does know that she's an excellent skater. Still, it's difficult to tell how things will go for her today. It's like what Max said, "let's hope for the best."

The arena shushes as Sonia's music, _Lord of the Rings Medley_ comes on. She begins in long patient strokes that carves out a circular footwork sequence. The program comes to life after the first successful jump combination and from there, the music picks up and Sonia engages with the entire performance.

Victor looks at the jaw-dropped faces of his rinkmates, though he's pretty sure his own jaw has dropped. Sonia knows how to end an event strongly, she knows how to perform under these circumstances. She is a competitor!

The event ends with Sonia placing in first with a score of 155.61, which pretty much secures Russia's team in first place for the team trophy, though the pairs' free skate event will be the true determiners of that.

Victor and his rinkmates all celebrate by going down to the stands to give Sonia a proper congratulations and suffocate her with hugs. After that, Victor rushes back up the stands to find Liv. He wants to thank her for the Makkachin sweaters and maybe talk for awhile before this event officially ends. But Liv is nowhere to be found.

* * *

 **YAY! DONE AND DONE! Now I can go back to reviewing the styles and terms relating to composers and their music of the baroque, classical, romantic, and modern eras...waaahhh! I wanna have some summer fun like everyone else too! :(**

 **Please tell me that you guys are enjoying yourselves more than me (wherever you are in the world...), and I'm sorry if you're just as stressed or more stressed than me.**

 **I wish you out there, the best of luck! Peace out!**


	21. 2014 Olympics: Figure Skating

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **Hey, guys! My coop term is finishing this week, which means I'll have more time working on these chapters. Then I have to pass my music history stuff two weeks later, and I'm completely free!**

 **I enjoyed writing this chapter very much, it gave me nostalgia of the time back when I was only fourteen, watching the Sochi Olympics skating events, along with curling, and skiing, and blah blah blah...yeah, I loved those nights spent with my family and eating popcorn and drinking soda!**

 **I also remembered how my and my older brother's favourite skater Yuna Kim got only silver opposed to Adelina Sotnikova (boy I was ready to hurl that remote to the tv!), but that's what skating is. It's not an objective sport. People say that Yuna had the technique but Adelina had the higher difficulty. And that's also something of the past, the 2018 Olympics are coming up next year! EXCITED!**

 **Anyways, I feel like this chapter might unleash a bunch of hardcore Victuri shippers out there to attack me...please remember that this is only a story, it isn't canon or anything, and I'm just a high schooler who likes writing fanfiction in her spare time and figure skating. (Curls back into the corner while wearing a bulletproof vest.)**

 **So please, FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW? :)**

* * *

 **Ch. 19: 2014 Olympics: Figure Skating**

 _Feb. 13, 2014. Iceberg Skating Palace. Sochi Olympics: Men's short program._

Victor watches as the skater from Germany, Alex Goethe, performed his short program. Every time Alex landed a jump, finished a spin, skated a footwork sequence, Victor wishes that he would fall.

 _Fall in the most tragic way possible!_

"I'm such a horrible person for thinking that…"

Suddenly, a shot of pain went up in his arm and Victor quickly sits back down on the seat behind him. He readjusts his sling on his left arm with his right hand so that it would stop slipping.

A few days ago during practice, Victor collided with the skater from Spain, Gabriel Martinez, and severely sprained his left elbow.

Gabriel managed to get lucky with only a badly bruised jaw and a few chipped teeth, but Victor was very unlucky that day. Those events were still as clear as though it was only yesterday that this accident happened.

* * *

 _Flashback to the day of Victor's accident at practice._

 _Pan's Labyrinth_ plays over the loudspeakers as Victor skates his short program. Omitting only his spins other than his final combination spin, Victor directs his attention to his jumps, transitions, footwork sequences, and musicality.

He must become one with his very program if he wants to claim that Olympic gold. The last time four years ago at Vancouver, he was close, but he failed and ended up in second. But not this time!

No! This time, he will be getting that first place rank that he's always dreamed of. His favourite part of the program comes up and Victor feels himself sinking deep into the dark and sorrowful melody.

He closes his eyes and moves in time with his song, even improvising some steps in the transitions between jumps. It feels amazing, it's rare for him to lose himself so easily while prac—

 _CRASH!_

Like a car that just turned around a 90 degrees corner, Spanish skater, Gabriel Martinez came out of nowhere. Or more like, he tried to avoid this sudden confrontation, but Victor didn't pay attention and skated right into the intersection.

The ice comes rushing towards Victor at a kilometer per second. For the first few seconds, Victor felt absolutely nothing, almost like he's lost weight or maybe got into a zero-gravity zone. But then, the pain came in like a bullet.

Victor tries to get up, but his left arm feels like a balloon that's been popped. Still, he attempts to turn around and face Gabriel, who could barely get up too. By now, Yakov and several other people, mainly the medics and Gabriel's coach, has arrived on the ice.

"Hey, hey!" Victor calls out to Gabriel. "You ok?"

Gabriel manages a weak nod and thumbs up to Victor before half of the group of medics took him away. The other half helped Victor off the ice with Yakov staying close behind him. For the first time in a long time, Victor sees the worry in Yakov's eyes.

Worry that is directed to his well-being and not just his skating career.

 _End flashback._

* * *

Hot, angry tears flood in Victor's eyes, he grits his teeth as he wipes them away with his one good arm. But he isn't angry at Gabriel, or the new skater currently on the ice from France, Peter Lazareck. No, he is angry at the way things turned out for him.

Ever since the end of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Victor was waiting for those four years to pass already. So he could have another try at the Olympic gold. He and his teammates manage to claim the gold at the team trophy but that wasn't the singles event.

He wanted to win a gold for himself in the men's singles. And now, he doesn't even have the chance to skate! What a shitty turn of events!

Peter finishes his short program to _Firebird_ flawlessly with a score of 95.09, placing him in first for the time being. Victor's frustrations hit its peak and he unleashes them by banging his right fist onto the empty seat next to him.

"If you keep doing that, eventually security's going to come and kick you out, even though you're 'Victor Nikiforov'." A male voice suddenly said.

Victor didn't need to turn around to know who it is. "Hey, lil' Yuri."

"You're in a bad mood." Yuri. P sits on the empty seat Victor just hit.

Victor didn't even try to smile. "Thanks for noticing that. How's Georgi and Constantine?"

"They're going down in the warm ups. Georgi's going in the next group, and Constantine's in the last group." Yuri. P explains. "Hey, I have a question. Why didn't Max or the other alternate replace you?"

"It's too late," Victor explains. "You can't just change the list of competitors literally two days before the competition."

"Ah, I see. What a shame. I would've loved to see your free skate to _Children_ again."

"I wish that was possible." Victor buries his head in his right arm.

 _Several minutes later…_

The veteran skater from Japan, Nobuo Adachi, finishes his short program to _Quinten_ with a strong combination spin. He sets a new bar with his score of 100.92. Next skater up is Georgi Popovich.

The orchestral arrangement of _Revolutionary Etude_ begins playing and Georgi takes the first stroke of his short program. He successfully lands all of his jumps, though his last triple axel had a bit of an awkward landing. The program was quick, powerful, and overall a strong performance considering the amount of pressure.

Georgi scores a 97.82, placing him in second behind Nobuo. Victor looks through the crowd to find that amazing Japanese skater. Eventually, he spots him standing by himself at the top of the stands on the other side of the arena.

Even from this distance, Victor sees the calm, cool demeanor on Nobuo's face as he watches each skater perform their short program, and all fail to beat his score of 100.92. Nobuo's gaze at every skater down on the ice is not harsh or judgemental, but almost trancelike.

It's like he's under a spell put by those he's watching, unable to break free or tear away. It's clear as day to anyone. Nobuo loves skating in general. Whether for competing or enjoyment, Nobuo loves the feeling of simply being on the ice.

Victor is in awe as he finally comes to realize that. It's almost like that man is born to be a skater! For awhile, Victor forgets about his pains and frustrations, and instead, decides to enjoy the rest of these short programs.

 _Nobuo Adachi...hmm. I wonder if all skaters from Japan are as amazing as him?_

Yuri. P suddenly jumps to his feet as the next skater enters the ice. Constantine takes a few strokes across the surface before approaching his starting point of the short program. Victor stands next to Yuri. P to watch.

 _Love's Dream_ begins at the same Constantine begins moving. Everybody gasps when he falls on the second jump of his first combination. Victor squeezes his fist, and mentally prays for him to make it through the rest of his program.

"Come on, Constantine...you got this." Yuri. P whispers under his breath.

Victor could feel the anxiety and fear building up inside his rinkmate down on the ice. Constantine holds his breath as he enters his next jump, which he lands successfully! From there on, Constantine forces himself back into his program and the landing of his last jump. He finishes with a score of 89.10, placing him in fourth for the time being.

Yuri. P and Victor both sit back down on their seats, releasing a sigh of relief at the same time. Victor looks at the young preteen next to him.

"Why are you here alone today?" He asks. "Where's Mike and Norah?"

Yuri. P shivers. "Norah bumped into her sports celebrity crush, that champion Canadian skier, I think? Yeah, she's making a bumbling fool of herself and Mike's making sure that she won't do or say anything she'll regret."

Victor laughs. "I'm happy for her. Poor Mike though. Always the babysitter. Though, I don't usually see him looking after you, lil' Yuri."

"I don't need looking after!" Yuri. P defends aggressively. "It's Norah who's the crazy one of the three of us!"

"You'll get used to it. That's how we all are. You haven't been in our rink for a year yet, you'll see."

* * *

 _Present time. Victor's parent's home._

Victor is still half asleep on the breakfast table while Yuri helps out Nicole in the kitchen. Kostner has already left for work, leaving the three of them to continue to bond. Nicole praises Yuri for his skills in the kitchen.

"You really know what you're doing, Yuri." She admires. "Now, I won't have to worry about him being malnourished. TV meals can only get him so far in life."

"I'm still fit and active currently!" Victor shouts. "And it was TV meals that were supplying me during those years when I became the famous skating genius!"

"You haven't hit that point in life yet. I mean, look at me." Nicole gestures to herself. "I'm turning 49 this year and my patients say I look as though I'm still 20!"

Yuri throws away some peels from bread they were cutting and nods in agreement. "Wait, 'patients?' What do you work as, Nicole?"

"Oh, Victor never told you? Oh, riiiigggghhhhtttt, he never even told you our existence in the first place! Well, Yuri. I work as a sports therapist."

Yuri's interest sparks. "As in all kinds of sports?"

Nicole nods. "Yep. Though, through lifestyle choices, I kind of became a no-brainer in ice-skating. Most of Victor's injuries were tended by me unless it required a specialist."

"What did you expect?" Victor talks back. "Skating comes with its fair share of knee bruises, and ankle cuts, and head inj—, and broken bones in all sorts of places!"

Nicole raises a brow. "Oh? And stunt snowboarding, shark cages, bungee jumping, and skydiving doesn't? Hmph! I'm glad I didn't allow you to pursue _those_ hobbies and made you put on a pair of ice skates instead!"

"I was seven!" Victor defends.

"And I knew best. Where's my 'thank you?'"

"You got your 'thank you,' when I made it big internationally. Or is that not enough of a 'thank you?'"

Nicole wipes her hands on the tablecloth and puts down the kitchen knife. She wraps her arms around the sleepy Victor from behind his chair.

"That's more than enough, I'm proud of you." She whispers gently. "Really, I am. But what I really want, is for you to spend the rest of your life in happiness."

 _That's what I'm here for_ , Yuri answers in his head. If he had the guts, he would have said it out loud, but unfortunately, he didn't.

He's always been afraid of admitting his feelings to Victor. It's almost like he's under some sort of spell that prevents his mouth from moving when he wants to tell Victor that he's the most important being in the universe to him.

One of these days, he will confess.

One of these days.

* * *

 _Feb. 14, 2014. Iceberg Skating Palace. Sochi Olympics: Men's free skate._

After the short program, the top five skaters currently are Nobuo Adachi, Georgi Popovich, Peter Lazareck, Gabriel Martinez, and Constantine Cohen. Now, it's time to determine the final standings of all of the skaters who made it to the free skate.

Victor is in a much better mood today than he was yesterday. He sits with his rinkmates in an area that's a bit closer to the ice rink than they usually sit. Today's a special day for two of their rinkmates, they need to give as much support as they can.

Mila and Max hold up a giant flag of Russia with Victor supporting the middle of the flag with his one good arm. Laurel holds up a large banner that has Georgi's and Constantine's names written on them in large black letters.

Yuri. P films the entire thing with a video camera given to him by his grandpa. His two junior rinkmates, Mike and Norah stands a few stands above them. Mike is also recording the whole event with his video camera so that in case something happens to Yuri. P's recording, they would always have a backup.

Norah on the other hand...is shouting into a megaphone while holding a giant teddy bear that is waving the flag of Russia at the same time. Luckily for them, the cheering of the audience was loud enough to not drive all attention to Norah's side.

The current skater on the ice, Michel Crispino from Italy, skates a flawless performance to _The_ _Rite of Spring_. His unconventional strokes matched the rhythm of the song and earning him a score of 160.14 and a total of 267.26. He is currently in first place.

Few skaters later, Jean-Jacques Leroy from Canada, performs another flawless free skate, skating to _Les Miserables_. A powerful jumper, and a confident bringer of feelings, JJ does not hesitate to improvise and add his own flair whenever possible. He resets the bar with a score of 175.58 and a total score of 275.01.

The skater Victor has secretly been waiting for makes his appearance with thunderous applause. Japan's Nobuo Adachi prepares for his free skate. Victor has not seen his free skate before and looks forward to seeing it for the first time here.

 _The Reluctant Heroes Piano Arrangement_ echoes from the loudspeakers. A song that almost nobody in the arena has ever heard before. It captures their attentions and made their eyes widen.

Nobuo connects to the music from the get-go and begins his program gently, slowly becoming increasingly intense and powerful. The climax of the song has him in the middle of a rapid combination spin. Unlike most other free skates, Nobuo ends his performance with an emotional step sequence.

Nobuo scores a 191.07 and a total score of 291.09. With the performance over, Victor feels slightly tired and sits down for a bit. His eyes dart around the arena lazily but catches the familiar sight of Liv standing not too far away from where he was sitting, also mesmerized by the score of 191.07 being displayed above her.

 _Of course…'Reluctant Heroes' is a song from an anime, right? Liv would've recognized it immediately. She must've been amazed…_ thought Victor.

"Who're you looking at?" Max suddenly asks as he catches sight of Victor sitting down and staring off into the distance.

Before Victor can answer, Max already traced the path of Victor's vision to the person of destination. His face breaks out into a large smile.

"That the fangirl, Victor?" He asks smugly.

"Who? Where?" Mila asks. She follows the direction where Max is pointing to Liv. Her eyes lit up in recognition. "No way, Victor! When did you meet Livvy Nguyen?"

Victor is the one surprised now. "You know her?"

Mila nods fiercely. "I know almost all of my competitors. I haven't seen her in awhile, the last time was the 2012 Worlds. Me, Sala, her, and a few other guys went out after the gala exhibition to some bars and there was this singing station there. And she did this epic duet with Otabek I think. Man, could they sing! How are they even skaters in the first place? They're in the wrong career!"

"I think they're good skaters too, though I never heard them sing before. I'd like to one day." Victor says in a calm face.

"Then let's all go to another bar after the gala again this time!" Mila declares. "I'll make her sing for us!"

After a few more skaters, it was finally time for Constantine to go. Victor suddenly feels his heart speeding again. After Constantine's not-too-great short program, he really doesn't know how things will fare for him here. If he doesn't do well here, then he's not going to make it onto the podium.

Constantine's free skate song, _Canon in D_ , is smooth and lyrical. His skating, even more so. It's almost like he pulled out all the physics of skating and is moving at such an unbelievable level of smoothness, one could hear a pin drop and notice it.

This is Constantine's redemption from the previous night's short program. This is his feelings, his reason to skate, his apology to his country and teammates. The free skate ends with a score of 188.4 and a total of 277.50, placing him in second behind Nobuo.

Victor and his rinkmates almost cried when Constantine skates off the ice in heightened emotions. That was a beautiful and touching performance, Victor almost forgot about his own pain for not being able to compete.

Georgi is the first skater to go in the last group. His free skate to _Carnival of the Animals_. It is fast and cheerful, nothing like the previous performances.

In this free skate, Georgi shows that he is able to express feelings of playfulness and joy besides sadness and lounging. However, he stumbles on a few of his jumps and even fell on his quadruple salchow in the second half.

In the end, Georgi scores a 164.01 and a total score of 261.83, placing him in fifth. It is a step down from what he could've performed, but still good nonetheless.

The men's free skate ends with the top three skaters: Jean-Jacques Leroy of Canada with bronze, Constantine Cohen of Russia with silver, and Nobuo Adachi of Japan with gold.

As Victor claps at the three skaters standing on the podiums on top of the ice, he couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart. He so badly wanted to be down there too, wearing that gold medal around Nobuo's neck.

He begins walking away from his rinkmates and up the steps to the top of the stands to escape the crowd. At the top, he bumps into Liv. She smiles at him.

"I'll get you an Olympic gold. I'll try my best!"

"That'll be a dream come true." Victor smiles back in gratitude. "No need to try, you made it this far. Gold is just an arm's reach away."

"What I really care about are my scores. Not so much about rankings, but for once. I'd like to know what it feels like earning a score that meets expectations."

* * *

 _Feb. 19, 2014. Iceberg Skating Palace. Sochi Olympics: Ladies' short program._

The first group of skaters is down on the ice, already warming up. Tension is high considering that they will be the ones that set the bar and makes the first impression.

By now, Victor's arm is feeling less pain than before and has been taken out of the sling. But he still wears the cast and is forbidden from moving it around too much.

He sits by himself, away from his other rinkmates. He wants to watch, enjoy, and judge these programs without the influences of others. And then compare his judgment to the scores of the official judges.

Let's see if he can spot any suspicious scoring tonight. But of course, he's not too worried about his rinkmate, Annie Vasin, or the other female representative, Sonia Ivanov. They'll do great, he's sure of it.

Current skater on the ice, Paula Edwards from Canada, scores a 58.77, placing her in first for now. So far, most of the newer skaters had already performed, the ones whom everyone is debating whether or will make it onto the podium, have yet to go.

But they all skate to the best of their ability. Many of them even managed to earn their season's or personal best from tonight! Eventually, the event goes into its second half, and the more experienced skaters take it from there.

Starting with Sala Crispino from Italy. She skates a well choreographed short program to _Bells of Moscow._ Overall, Sala is a strong skater, but because her jumps mostly outshine the rest of her elements, it's hard to appreciate her abilities to interpret, stroke, and stretch.

But jumps is what gives skaters their scores, and Sala earns a 73.98, placing her in first. Skaters after Sala fight hard against the pressure and high expectations, and yes some of them did stumble and fall, but they skated their hearts out. That's what counts in Victor's eyes.

Champion from the free skate team event, Sonia Ivanov, takes the ice. She won the team trophy ladies' free skate with her stunning show-stopping performance to _Lord of the Rings Medley._ Question is, can she do it again here in the singles short program?

Sonia starts off strong, skating to _Dark Eyes_ , but somewhere in the middle of the program, she begins to show signs of tiring. She loses some speed down near the end of her footwork sequence and her entrance into her triple loop jump wasn't as smooth as it usually is.

She two-foots the landing on her triple loop jump, but instead of demoralizing her, it seemed to have woken her up! After that, she quickly picks up her slack and begins putting in all her effort into her moves.

She lands her last jump, though a bit overrotated, and ends strongly in a rapid combination spin. Sonia scores a 68.93, placing her in second. The next skater Victor is waiting for, is Liv.

After a few more short programs, that didn't fail to disappoint the audiences, but several skaters were disappointed with their own performances, the next group of skaters entered the ice. Liv is skating in this group.

Victor stands up from his seat and makes his way to a better viewing area that's still relatively free of other people. He watches with a lump in his throat as Liv strokes across the ice in long powerful glides. Forward, backward, clockwise, counterclockwise…

It felt like an eternity before the warm up was over and Liv remains on the ice, first skater of this group to go. Victor's vision became hazy for a second, if it wasn't for her dark hair, he wouldn't have seen her. Her in that white outfit, perfectly blended with the ice.

 _Theme of Angel Beats_ echoes across the arena as Liv starts her short program. She lands her opening jump combination and second jump perfectly fine. But Victor isn't worried about that, he was more worried about what the technical panel will see when they replay those in slow motion.

On the other hand, he is not worried at all about her spins, footwork, transitions, and interpretation. Liv got those down, sparking the attention of the audience with her rapid layback to bielmann spin and her deep footwork sequence.

Though Victor has seen this short program quite a few times before, he feels that this is definitely the best one she's performed. Under the high pressure and new environment, Liv's connectivity with the ice heightens. She scores a 69.02, not too high, and not too low.

Just as expected, but still a bit disappointing nonetheless. She places in second currently. Victor runs down to the back of the arena to look for her, but Liv disappears once again. Not wanting to miss the rest of the event, he goes back to the main arena, just in time to see his rinkmate, Annie perform.

Annie skates to _Riverdance_ , and by now, most of her rinkmates have her entire program memorized. She starts off with a hop then a pivot, and skates into her opening triple lutz/triple toe loop, blah blah blah.

But she already thought of that and went one step ahead. Annie adds improvisations in her transitions and footwork sequence to surprise her audience this time. Even Victor was shocked by those new sudden additions.

It was Annie's improvisations that earned her the applause, but it was her jumps that earned her the scores. She scores a 74.13, placing in first for the time being, though it'll be very difficult to beat a score this high. She practically won this short program already.

* * *

 _Feb. 20, 2014. Iceberg Skating Palace. Sochi Olympics: Ladies' Free Skate._

Tonight is the night that truly counts. All of the hard work and training, will it be paid off here? That'll depend on the skater and her capability of controlling her nerves, along with the support her coach is giving her.

The first group finishes warm up and the first skater of the night squeezes her coach's hands in desperation and fear before being welcomed by the cheers of the audience. Skater after skater, Victor's heartbeat intensifies. It's almost like the pressure increases with each performance.

The bar is set high all over again, or new expectations are made. Each skater has to meet those expectations, and each time she fails, the next skater's expectations are higher than ever. Then the skater from the Czech Republic, Hannah Newman, came up.

Her free skate to _Ballade_ is doomed after her first failed jump combination. After that, Hannah begins rushing through her program, almost as if she trying to get this done and over with, or more importantly just leave the eyes of the thousands of people watching her fail.

Victor almost cried as Hannah pops her triple salchow. It reminds him too much of what happened to Annie Vasin back during the 2014 Nationals. The pressure just got too great.

Unable to stand the sight of a skater having a mental breakdown in front of him, Victor leaves the arena and runs to the back areas, where most of the other skaters were warming up, all of them looking as scared as Hannah Newman.

Stopping in front of a water fountain, Victor suddenly feels a tap on his shoulder. It was Yakov.

"What are you doing here? Are you not feeling well?" He asked. "Don't tell me your arm's gotten worse!"

Victor shakes his head. "I couldn't stand to see that Czech girl constantly fall. It's so horrible…"

"Victor?" Liv enters the scene, she takes out her earbuds and looks at him with concern. "How bad are my chances?"

Victor looks at Liv, her face is just like all the other about-to-go-on skaters. Teary eyed and scared. He couldn't lie. "It's pressurizing out there. They're...falling, well most of them are...but a few of the better ones are leading with stable free skates."

"I'm asking about how you think I'll fare out there," Liv repeats.

He doesn't know. He doesn't know. "I don't know."

Back in the arena, Victor sits back in his usual spot, continuing to watch these skaters skate their free skates. It didn't get too better, but at least by now, they've gotten in the more promising groups of tonight. The ones with the possible champions.

Sonia Ivanov takes the ice, as champion from the team trophy's free skate, the atmosphere has changed for her. _Lord of the Rings Medley_ begins and she starts her program. It was a good start and middle. But it lacked the excitement and confidence from the team trophy.

It's almost like Sonia's lost the motivation to skate, or maybe she also succumbed to the pressure. And as soon as the second half began, Victor's beginning to think it's maybe the pressure. Sonia falls on the landing of her triple loop jump and begins rushing to end her free skate.

She scores a 135.24 and a total of 204.07, placing her in second behind a skater from the United States, Grace Lorimer who has a total of 224.03, for the time. Few skaters down the list is Sala Crispino. She manages to deliver a clean free skate to _Divenire_ and join the tiny portion of skaters who didn't fall or stumble tonight.

Sala places in second behind Grace with a score of 140.35 and a total of 214.33. The last skater of this group is Liv. Victor leans forward on his chair, resting her forehead against his right arm and swallows some bile that coming up inside his throat.

"She can do it…" He croaks. "She wanted to leave this country, to go back to the US, but she stayed because of the Olympics. She'll do well...and I won't be put at fault. This coaching thing is real, it's not a minor infatuation, Yakov…"

Last of the group, Liv steps on the ice. Victor lifts his head from his arm and looks at her stroking across the ice, in her flowing light gray dress, it's just like all the other previous skaters. Until the music begins, that's when the individual skater appears.

Raindrops sounded in the background, introducing the _Heavy Rain Piano Suite_. Victor slowly rises in his sitting stance as he watches the ice slowly transform in front of him, into a blank canvas. Liv moves across the canvas, painting a story for all of them to see.

The entire arena is silent, only clapping when Liv lands her jumps and finishes a spin. But nobody cared about those elements. No, they just watched for the performance itself. The entire arena turned into a thunderstorm through Victor's eyes as Liv reaches the second half.

Victor suddenly catches sight of someone familiar moving next to him. It was Nobuo Adachi. He also watched Liv's free skate with the same eyes as he did with the men's short programs.

"Tenshi…" Victor heard Nobuo whisper.

"What?"

Nobuo looks at Victor. "It means 'angel.'"

Liv's strokes became more powerful and emotional, the music intensifies and reaches its climax as she finishes the program with a double axel leading into the combination spin. That's when the lights of the arena came back on, and everyone applauds. Liv joins the small portion of skaters who managed to skate a clean program tonight.

Victor stands up, unable to contain the numbness in his legs. _It was worth it…_ Then the scores were announced and displayed. Liv scores a 135.76, a combined total of 204.78, placing her in third for the time being. Victor stares at those numbers, silent and debating.

The crowd cheers, but it's only natural to do that each time the scores were being displayed. Were they sincere in their cheers every time those numbers appeared? Did they know if it's too high or too low considering what they've seen the skater do on the ice moments before?

Liv didn't disappear immediately this time when Victor looked for her. She sits on the sidelines with Yakov as the rest of the free skate goes on. The last group of the night enters the ice. Annie is the first performer.

This time, her free skate to _Star Wars Medley_ was clean. Clean and exciting and motivating, but not strong like Sala's, or smooth like Grace's, or artistic like Liv's. But Annie's technical elements were superb, which is why she scored a 141.98, and a total of 216.11, which places her in second behind Grace Lorimar.

The last skater of the night, Maaya Yuzuki, skates across the ice. By now, the audience was tired but continued to stay as awake as they could for this final performance. Maaya is willing to deliver that to them and reawaken them once again. Skating to _La Primavera._

Maaya steps out of her first jump combination due to nerves but quickly regains control after landing her second jump and taking the audience's breaths away with her beautiful footwork sequence. Victor walks towards the stairs next to the stands and down towards the sidelines to get a closer look.

The music begins to slowly fade away near the end of the program, at the same time as Maaya slows down her pace and strokes, becoming more gentle and soothing, all the way to her final back scratch spin, ending this event once and for all.

She scores a 139.18 and a total of 205.15, placing her in fourth, behind Sala. And that is the end of the Sochi Olympics figure skating events. The medal ceremony will begin soon.

With the top three skaters: Sala Crispino of Italy taking bronze, Annie Vasin of Russia taking silver, and Grace Lorimar of the United States taking the gold.

Victor quickly turns his head to the sidelines to find Liv, and this time, he manages to catch sight of her before she walks out of the arena, dressed in her casual outfit and her skating bag over her shoulder.

He runs after her as she disappears into the crowd.

The underscored skater of the night.

* * *

 _At the back exit of the arena._

"Liv, wait." Victor walks close behind her.

She stops and turns around, her face is not angry or sad, or anything. It is actually quite neutral, other than the slight redness surrounding her eyes.

"It's alright." She croaks. "That's to be expected. It's not like it's the first time this has happened to me anyways, you know that."

"I...I'm so sorry." Victor means it. He had so many high hopes, so many dreams, but this is the reality. And Liv's already accepted it. He feels terrible for letting that happen.

"For what?" Liv puts on a forced smile. "Thanks to you and Yakov, I skated the time of my life here at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. That's more than enough of what I could ask for."

Her voice cracks a little at the end of the sentence. In the bright fluorescent lights, Victor can see tears gleaming in Liv's eyes, threatening to spill at any second. It's clear that she's hurt by the results once again.

He breathes silently. "Why'd you stay, Liv? When Yakov and I went to tell you you've been selected as Laurel's replacement, you were more than ready to leave for the States."

"Of course I was," Liv explains. "I felt worthless and incompetent during that time, I wanted the warm embrace of my family and friends."

"But you decided to stay…" Victor remarks.

"Yeah. Because I've got people here who support me now. Well, you more specifically. And immediately because of that, this place began to feel more welcoming." Liv nods at Victor, her eyes filled with gratitude.

Victor is ready to bawl. "I'm so so sorry. I couldn't help you any more than I said I would. I was in over my head when I said I'd make you a champion. I'm sorry."

Liv gaps in shock. "Why are _you_ apologizing? _I_ should be the one apologizing! You coached me, you supported me, you believed in me. But in the end...I couldn't even place on the podium! Ha! Looks like my 'win' at the Nationals was a big joke too! It's embarrassing, alright! Now nobody thinks I'm competent! I'm embarrassed!"

She continues to shout. "You would've won gold easily! If it wasn't for your injury, you would've won! And nobody would even think twice whether or not you deserved that gold! Even against Nobuo Adachi, you would've won, I know so! But now, neither of us are wearing gold! Look, I'm so bad, I'm even dragging the great 'Victor Nikiforov' down with me!"

A moment of silence fell between them, only the sound of Liv's tired and ragged breaths echoed through the halls. The wind blew hard outside, making a loud whistling sound against the glassy doors and messing the snow up all over the place.

"I'm sorry," Liv says in a quieter voice. "There's no gold for you to kiss tonight."

Impulse strikes Victor like lightning strikes a tree, without a moment's delay, he walks across the gap between him and Liv in exactly five firm steps.

Stopping in front of her, he cups one side of her face with his right hand and quickly brings her in close, sealing the gap between them and destroying the last wall of tension in their relationship, blooming a whole new one.

The second their lips touch, Liv's eyes opened wide. Her arms became weak and her skating bag rolls off her shoulder to the floor. Her heart is thumping so loud, she felt its pulse all the way down in her toes!

The kiss isn't as one would imagine. It isn't slow and romantic, or rushed and mood-killing, or confusing and mistimed. But more direct, it is confident, accurate, and proper. It was something that needed to be done in that moment.

Almost as soon as it began, it ends. Victor takes a few steps back, in case Liv made any unpredictable reaction. His pulse has never raced so fast his entire life, not for any competition or event.

He looks at Liv directly in the eye, peering past those dark brown orbs and straight into the mixture of confusion and relaxation behind them. His own emotions probably weren't too far from that, but he had a sense of confidence in his recent action.

"I kissed the gold now," Victor says in a serious voice.

Without warning, Liv runs forward and wraps her arms around Victor, who quickly returns the action. Her arms circles behind him, almost afraid that if she let's go, he'll disappear like a dream.

"Thank you," Liv mumbles into Victor's jacket. "For making my decision to stay worth it."

Victor sweats furiously after hearing that. So she does have feelings for him. He tightens his grip on her, not wanting to ever let go. This is what his gut instincts are telling him to do right at this moment, what he wants to do. But what about after this moment?

Will he continue to want to do this? Will his feelings for Liv right now keep on lasting after tonight?

 _Yes._ He has to make it last. Because in this moment, this very second, this is all he's ever wanted. Someone who needs him by their side through all tough times, someone who he can offer to be leaned on as a strong pillar of support.

The hero that comes in to save the day.

"I'll make it worth it if you stay. Don't you ever think of running back." Victor says fiercely. "If you can't compete fairly this way, then fine. We'll have it their way. Let's win, with _their_ rules."

* * *

 **Again, no attacks, please. Constructive criticism is always welcome, just nothing that'll bring my morals down.**

 **Ah, this is finally done and finished! Yes! I feel like I just made across a giant hurdle and past the finish line. After this chapter, I'll be finishing up the last few chapters of this backstory, and continue the rest of this story in the present, where things will hopefully get interesting...**

 **But of course, I have to watch the new episodes of Game of Thrones season 7 before I write more chapters! BIG FAN OF GAME OF THRONES!**


	22. The St Petersburg Skaters

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic. Enjoy!**

 **Hi, everyone! I'm sort of back on track with a new chapter! I can't believe my summer break is almost over, it's been going way too fast! But then again, that means it's getting closer and closer to the 2018 Olympics! The one thing I'm really excited about my last year of high school honestly. And this fanfic shall go straight into it!**

 **Anyways, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, this brings back a lot of old memories of when I used to skate seriously and my rinkmates and I would joke, have fun, and do all sorts of weird stuff together. We'd help each other on the ice too sometimes, and tease each other of my our skills and strengths.**

 **Now, I barely touch the ice, but I'm doing my best to keep all of these skills with off ice jumps, stretching, and strength and cardio training.**

 **Again, please FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW! :D**

* * *

 **Ch. 20: The St. Petersburg Skaters**

 _Fri. Dec. 30, 2016. Victor's apartment._

Yuri opens his eyes groggily at the touch of something running through his hair and forehead. His vision clears up and in front of him was Victor, squatting near the floor of the guest bed and looking at him with gentle eyes.

His fingers messed around the dark strands of Yuri's hair. "Aww, you looked so peaceful when you were still unconscious."

"We're back at your place already?" Yuri asks still half-asleep.

"You fell asleep after the large tour/shopping spree my mom took us on yesterday. I thought you lost weight, Yuri! I almost sprained my wrist carrying you up the steps of the lobby!"

"You're just slacking in your training," Yuri retorts as he pulls the comforter over his face. "Your hatred of weight-lifting has finally caught up to you."

"Well, I'd better get back to training soon! Or else I won't be able to carry you bridal style at the wedding!"

Yuri sits up in the bed, reaching for his glasses on the nightstand next to him and putting them on. "You shouldn't be worried about _that_ , Victor. How long are you planning to avoid the rink and Yakov? I get that _I'm_ here, but I don't want you to start falling behind in your training!"

Victor sighs and falls onto his back on the comforter of the bed. Yuri nearly lets out a yelp as he dodges him. Victor looks at the ceiling in blank thought.

"Our relationship is more important than that to me right now. Yakov will understand, I'll make him understand."

"And if he doesn't?"

Victor looks at Yuri with no expression on his face. No emotion in his eyes. That is until he suddenly makes a tiny smile and the next thing Yuri knew, Victor pounced onto his back and wrapped his arms around him. He rests his head on his shoulder and leans close to his ear.

"Then I'll remind him the reason why Lilia left him," he whispers.

Yuri gasps in shock. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Yes, I would." Victor gets up and out of the bed, walking out of the door of the guest bedroom. "Breakfast is a bunch of takeout my mom made me bring home after you passed out last night. Get washed up first!"

* * *

 _In the kitchen, after breakfast._

Yuri helps put away the finished dishes into the kitchen sink, where he proceeds to wash them. Victor just went out to throw away the garbage and compost down the trash chute. As he runs the porcelain plates under the water, Yuri begins thinking about what Victor has been telling him for the past few days.

 _I know that Liv really was Victor's first student, and I know that they pursued a romantic relationship later on during that time. But that romance...how far did it go?_

 _Did they ever confess to one another? Or was it just simple dates and regular lessons that probably end up being just make-out sessions—NO! The first and foremost reason Victor got together with her was because of skating!_

 _As a skater himself, he just wants to help out another skater, someone who was struggling and having a hard time in a foreign country with tough domestic competition. Yes, that's it! But they did get awfully close and judging from the way he talks about her skating skills, he seems to really have admired and fallen for her! Talent and persona!_

 _And why shouldn't he? She's expressive, she's finely-detailed, she can draw and sing and play piano, she's probably really attractive, but best of all, she's CONSISTENT! How irresistible is that? From a skater's point of view?_

 _Do I feel...threatened by her? What would happen if she suddenly appears outside the front door tomorrow…_

Yuri violently shakes his head, getting rid of all those thoughts and voices flooding his mind. He did not need to hear any of that right now! Right now, he's mending his relationship with Victor—no, he's done mending!

He's STRENGTHENING his relationship with Victor! Yes, that's what he's doing right now! He's here to make sure his and Victor's relationship will withstand the obstacles time will bring them. Anything that comes their way, their bond will continue to hold, nothing will break them apart!

Nothing.

Victor comes in through the front door, he pats his hands from throwing away the garbage and compost bags. "Done and done. That's your neighbourhood toxic waste control, just finishing up for the morning. $3.50, please sir, that is the discount you get from being engaged to the CEO of the household garbage removal company."

He holds out his hand to receive the money from Yuri, who hands him a wet cloth instead. "I'm not your customer. I'm your housewife."

"My _housewife_!?" Victor doubles over with laughter and falls to the floor. "That's amazing, Yuri! Truly spectacular! That's the first I've heard from you, great improvement! Gosh, I love you."

"Mm," Yuri answers with a smile before putting away the dried dishes on the countertop.

Victor stops laughing immediately and begins wiping the breakfast bar on the island with the wet cloth he was handed a few moments ago. Yuri continues drying the kitchenware, waiting for Victor say something.

But he said nothing. The only sound made was the sound of items being put away and chairs being moved around. _What happened?_ Thought Yuri. _Just a few seconds ago, we were laughing._

But then Yuri knew. He knew what turned off that happy atmosphere from a few seconds ago. He didn't say "me too." And now, it was too late.

He'd have to wait for another perfect opportunity to return Victor's feelings. And when will that be? Probably a long time from now, hopefully, sooner than later. If it's later, then more things may come along and complicate their relationship again.

 _Bzz! Bzz! Bzz! Bzz!_

The sound of a phone vibrating ended the silence. Victor leaps across the room and grabs his cell phone on the top of the breakfast bar. His expression turns to stone as he gazes at the screen.

Yuri wipes his hands dry on the cloth, curious as to who's calling. "Who is it?"

Victor answers him with a face that is equivalent to that of a five-year-old who just got found out he's been feeding his homework to his dog for a whole week. With a sigh, Victor answers the phone.

"Heellllloooo, Yakov."

"Victor." Yakov's voice is deadly silent. "Are you in a hospital sick with pneumonia?"

"No."

"Did someone in your family get hurt?"

"No."

"Were you robbed?"

"No."

"Arrested for shoplifting dog sweaters?"

"That would've been on the news and Norah would've already told everyone at the rink about it."

"Then you must be in heaven."

"Very close to it actually. These past few days have been a week spent in heaven!"

"Oh? Then why don't you come down to the rink, I'll give you a one-way ticket for the heavenly express. Half and hour got it? Or that tickets going to be for the hell's fire pit express."

Yakov ends the call. Victor feels as if his soul is literally leaving his body as he lowers his phone from his ear. So much, that Yuri came running towards him and pulls his soul back down from the sky.

"Yakov?" He asks.

"I'm a dead man." Victor answers.

"How pitiful. A dead unmarried man."

"Will you come with me?" He throws himself onto Yuri's chest, clutching him like a kid who doesn't want to go to school.

"Gladly. It's about time I got to see the rest of your rinkmates I've been hearing so much about in your story."

"That's all you care about?"

"And I miss seeing Yurio."

Victor falls to the floor. Cold and unconscious.

* * *

 _St. Petersburg Ice Arena._

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Victor fights Yuri's pull as they near the front steps of the large arena.

"Stop whining and just get this day's practice done and over with! Then we can enjoy ourselves again!" Yuri violently tugs Victor's arm, nearly throwing him against the metal railings that ran down the middle of the steps.

The two men continued to struggle and pull each other in the opposite direction, but Yuri had the upper hand due to Victor's large and heavy skating bag preventing him from winning this fight.

Yuri manages to claw his way through the glassy automatic doors of the entrance, and into the front lobby, that is thankfully empty right now. No one needed to see the great veteran skater acting like a child.

"He's going to slice my throat with my own skates!" Victor cries.

"Yakov's serious, but he's no murderer." Yuri counters.

"You don't know him!"

"Oh hey, Victor." A new voice joins the conversation.

Yuri turns his head in the direction of the newcomer. A smiling teenage boy stood with a black skating bag hooked on his shoulder. He had dark hair and looked to be around Yurio's age, just a tad bit taller.

The boy walks towards them. "Haven't seen you in awhile. Enjoyed your Christmas break?"

"Mike!" Victor shouts. "You're the sanest skater amongst Yakov's students, he trusts you more than anyone else he's taken under his tutelage. Tell him that if he does not spare me, I'll remind him why Lilia left him."

"I don't care about that, Victor. There's something more important right now. Hi, I'm Mike Dalmer! A new addition to the senior division this year." He stretches out his hand towards Yuri, who gratefully accepts it.

"Yuri Katsuki, nice to meet you, Mike."

"Silver medalist at the Barcelona GPF last year, and bronze medalist at the 2016 Worlds. If it wasn't for your injury at the last GPF, you would've won the Japanese Nationals too! You're the one our star skater fell for?"

"That's about right."

Mike purses his lips. "Ahh. I see. Constantine was right all along, Victor. You really do go for the innocent-looking ones. Though, looking at you two this way right now…I'm not sure who's more like a kid."

"He needs to practice today," Yuri explains.

"Yakov would be delighted to see you," Mike says in a sweet voice oozing with sarcasm. "Don't ruin his day by reminding him of his divorce with Lilia."

"And I'm to believe that he's actually happy to see me here?" Victor asks in a drunk tone.

"You realize that Yakov is your—our coach? Of course, he's going to be upset that you haven't shown up or bothered to contact him for the past few days. But—"

"I had important affairs to tend to!" Victor defends.

"Bbbuuuutttt. He'll be less upset than he would've been if you didn't show up today. The fact that you're actually here, despite missing significant practice days, is good enough. He's not going to kill you. He wouldn't dare. Not with your boyfriend here."

Yuri scratches the back of his head. "I don't know if my presence makes things easier for him. He's pretty stressed."

"Unfortunately, that's what comes when you have students all over the place. And we can help ease the stress by pulling our own weight. Think ahead, prepare, have initiative. And we may buy him some extra years to live!"

Victor frees himself from Yuri's grasp and hitches his skating bag up higher onto his shoulder. "Mike, if I'm ever in dire need of help, can you be my lawyer?"

"Haha, I'm not wasting so many years of my life that could be spent in happiness. Especially now that I got myself a girlfriend."

The three of them begin walking down the lobby and towards the interior halls that lead to several different rinks, changing rooms, and other rooms for purposes like weight lifting, flexibility training, and cardio training.

Yuri can't help but look around as they walked down the brightly lit halls. He continues talking from where Mike left off. "You're dating already, Mike?"

"Who's the lucky girl?" Victor asks.

Mike nods. "A half Japanese/German beauty that I met during the after-competition banquet at the 2016 Junior Worlds. Year younger and she have quite an attitude. But she's sweet around me, and I return the favour."

"Non-skater?" Yuri makes sure.

"Yeah. She runs a popular skating fan club and lives in Japan, but she attends nearly every competition I go to as representative for her fans, who look up to her very much."

"You never had your eye on someone special here before, Mike?"

"Here? Nah, not really. Everyone here's like...family to me. I joined with my childhood friend, Norah when we were intermediates and met everyone else right there. Yuri—Yuri Plisetsky more specifically, joined when we were in the junior division."

"Ah, sweet Yurio…" Victor sighs. "He was so quiet and such a good person back then."

"Eh, I like this new angry one better. Adds more taste and colour to this rink." Mike admits.

He stops in front of an intersection. A path on the right side of the hall broke off and led to the double doors of one of the many rinks here. The hall kept on going down after that, with several more intersections that lead to different rooms down ahead.

"Victor, we should hurry and get changed. Yuri, go ahead and sit down. It's a freestyle practice, for now, Yurio should be there too. 'Yurio?' That's his new nickname, right? I should call him that from now on!"

Victor gives Yuri a one-armed hug, it felt warm and gentle. "I'll see you out there soon, 'kay? Don't get too cold inside."

"Don't worry about me."

Victor lets go of Yuri and walks down the hall with Mike, heading towards the change room. Yuri turns around and walks down the path separated from the main hall. The large metal doors stood before him.

* * *

 _Inside the main rink._

Peering through the safety glass windows, Yuri could barely make out the figures of rapidly moving bodies on a faraway surface, gracefully twirling and flying through the air. He feels his heartbeat increase as he pushes the doors open and the cool dry air of the rink wash over his face.

The sunlight combined with the artificial lights hanging high above made the rink seem even brighter than outside, especially with the white ice, decorated with hundreds of markings and scrapes of all patterns from the skaters' blades.

Yuri feels himself growing with excitement even though he wasn't here to skate himself, along with a sense of nostalgia. Climbing the steps next to the seats, he gets a better look at all the individual skaters on the beautiful Olympic sized rink.

There were about fifteen skaters on the ice right now, ranging from young teens to adults seemingly in their late twenties. A few familiar faces, such as Georgi, Mila, and Yurio were immediately recognized by Yuri.

Georgi was stroking around the rink, paying careful attention to every one of his turns and crossovers. Mila was working on different arm variations for her triple toe loop. And Yurio was practicing his entrance into the flying death drop sitspin.

But the majority of the skaters on the ice were new faces to Yuri. There was a teenage girl performing a backspin, spinning in the clockwise direction, an uncommon direction.

There was a young man with tousled blonde hair that flew around with every stroke and turns he made. A tall slim woman with dark hair in a messy bun going through a graceful spiral sequence, her edges strong and flexibility amazing.

But what caught Yuri's eye most of all was the brown haired man who seemed to be practicing his program, skating to the music blaring over the loudspeakers. Some kind of epic orchestral film soundtrack from the sound of it.

He finishes a fast and complicated step sequence in a serpentine pattern that easily covered the entire rink. From there, he transitions smoothly into a jump. A massive— _massive_ quadruple flip, with an air position and landing stance that could rival Victor's.

A few strokes and notes later, the man was in his final combination spin, from back camel to sitspin, then change foot into a front camel and corkscrew spin. He ends it all with a strong final position and a stare that could turn the entire panel of judges to stone.

Yuri feels his breath get hitched. Why did he never see these insanely talented people in his competitions yet?

 _So these are the St. Petersburg skaters…most of them share Yakov as a coach…Victor's rinkmates…_

To be honest, ever since he saw Victor perform on tv, Yuri never set his vision on anyone else. Only Victor mattered to him, and all his life, he was working hard to make his way up, to compete and be close to the one he admires the most.

Now, Yuri is witnessing history being made before him. For the first time, his pulse races from seeing the amazing skills of other skaters. Skaters whose skills could possibly outshine Victor's, or at the very least, give Victor a run for his gold medal.

Suddenly, Yuri sees Yakov skate towards the center of the ice from the sidelines, he stops in front of the brown haired man whom Yuri was admiring a few moments ago. The man who just finished his program run-through.

Yakov seemed to be giving some advice on the timing of the final step sequence, the man nodded to everything Yakov was saying, though Yuri couldn't hear a thing from where he was sitting.

The next thing he knew, the door to the rink opened and Victor and Mike step onto the ice.

The two skaters circles the entire rink in powerful strokes, perfectly synchronized and without delay. After a few revolutions around the ice, they made a quick turn and began stroking backward.

Eventually, as they neared the end of their warm up routine, other skaters on the ice began taking notice of them and greeted them.

They talked, laughed, and then went back to practice as if they never stopped practicing in the first place.

Mike and the teenage girl exchanged a few words before Yurio suddenly skated over and heard what they were saying.

The blonde teenager looked up at the bleachers and eyes nearly popped out of their sockets upon seeing Yuri.

"Katsuki!?"

That got the attention of everyone in the rink. Including Yakov's. He looks up at the bleachers and sees Yuri, then he looks across the ice.

His eyes met Victor's, just a few strokes behind him. Victor offers a fake delighted smile.

"Hello, Yakov. It's not half an hour yet. And I'm here." Victor presents himself.

Everyone on ice suddenly backed up several meters from Yakov and Victor, as if they were ticking time bombs, ready to explode any second.

The man with tousled blonde hair gave Victor a pat on the back before skating off. "Ahem. Good luck."

Yakov decreases the gap between him and Victor. Victor braces himself for the volcanic eruption…that never came.

"You're here." Yakov says dully. "Good. I suppose you'll be able to pick up where you left off easily."

"Y—yes." Victor answers in shock.

"Then that's all I have to say. No ticket for the heavenly express. Georgi! You're up next!" Yakov barks.

All the skaters almost seemed disappointed from the unexciting interaction as they resumed their practice. Georgi nods obediently and skates towards Yakov, the two of them travels to the music booth to change the song to Georgi's program music for this season.

Yurio however, skates to the edge of the rink, scraping some snow up from his blades as he stopped. He gestures towards Yuri to come down from the bleachers. Yuri does as he was told.

"So, how's it going?" Yurio asks curiously.

Yuri smiles smugly. "Very well, actually. It's been quite an interesting visit here. I don't regret it. Thanks to you and Phichit. Now, do I have to owe you anything?"

"What makes you think there's a debt to be repaid?"

"Is there?"

Yurio shakes his head. "There was. But it's repaid already. Ever since the Nationals here, Victor barely showed up to this rink. Always practicing at that run-down outdoor rink in the middle of nowhere. And during those rare occasions when he showed at the very end of practice, he's always so sullen and moody it's infectious! But now you're here and he's back. This is the earliest he's shown up so far. Good job, I mean it."

"I'm glad he was sullen and moody," Yuri states so normally that Yurio nearly slipped onto his back.

"I meant," Yuri clarifies. "That this relationship isn't as one-sided as I thought it was."

"Well, just don't drag the rest of us into the aftermath of another bad turn out between you two!" Yurio turns around to skate away.

"Yurio!"

"What?"

"Can't I meet some of your friends?"

Yurio makes a face. "What? And why would you wa—"

"Way ahead of you!" The teenage girl Yurio and Mike were just talking to earlier zooms past Yurio and nearly somersaults over the boards in front of Yuri.

She leans on the top of the boards and grins as she takes Yuri's hand with both of her own, shaking it so violently, that Yuri had to straighten his glasses on his nose.

"I've been waiting for this day to come!" The girl exclaims enthusiastically. "Norah Meyer, nice to meet you!"

Yuri is taken back by this sudden meeting. "Y—"

"I knew that Victor left this place for a reason. But I didn't know what. That is until I discovered those photos on his Instagram page. The minute I saw you two dancing, the way his eyes sparkle and glow when he looked at you. I knew it." Norah puts a hand on her chest, dramatic tears in her eyes. "It was love. Oh, how I wish I had someone like that! And I couldn't bring myself to tell Yakov, no I couldn't. How could I stop someone from chasing their heart's desire? I would never forgive myself. But then, Yurio over there decided to…you know, intervene. I hope he didn't cause any trouble for you two in the beginning."

"What!?" Yurio shouts. "I was the one who brought them back together now!"

"What's going on here?" The brown-haired man skates over. He pulls Norah off the boards and away from Yuri. "Stop harassing Victor's boyfriend, Norah. This half of practice is over in ten minutes, you can harass him all you want after. Oh wait, you _are_ Victor's boyfriend, right?"

"Boyfriend, student, best friend, fiance, all of that rolled up into one." Yuri shrugs.

"Fian-what!?" Another skater stops by. It was the one with tousled blonde hair. "He _never_ told any of us about this engagement! Omigosh…I'm screaming. Internally, so that the ice won't crack under the sheer volume of it."

Yuri begins to feel slightly overwhelmed by the sudden presence of several new skaters in front of him. Though, they're all very friendly and open right now. _As nice as Victor…_

The brown-haired skater pushes the blonde one out of the way while still clutching Norah with one hand. "Max, at this rate, we'll be scaring him all the way back to Japan. And then Victor's going to return to his little rain cloud again. Apologies, Yuri. I'm Constantine Cohen, I'm afraid Victor's dramatic-ness has spread around here ever since he arrived as an intermediate."

Yuri shakes his head and chuckles. "No, no. I'm used to it. I'm used to way worse than this."

"And pretty soon, you'll be used to for the rest of your life," Constantine adds as he drags Max and Norah back towards the center of the ice. Yurio gives Yuri one last glance and a tiny smile before skating away too.

Yuri smiles too. A sense of relief and happiness wash over him. When people get engaged, it's tradition that the couple pays a visit to each other's families. Yuri has already met Victor's parents, and Makkachin needs no introduction, and Victor promised to go back home with Yuri at around New Year's and apologize to his family for the pain he caused Yuri back then.

But that meeting with three of Victor's rinkmates made Yuri feel even more whole. It made him feel almost complete. Yes, it's true, these people aren't blood-related to Victor. But they've been with him through rain, shine, hail, and the wind.

They all cried together, laughed together, gossiped and trained together. These people have a stronger bond than most friends do. They can relate with one another through their common sport.

They're a family too. And Yuri's going to be part of it one day when he and Victor join together.

All he has to do is meet the rest of them as soon as this half of the practice is over. Dryness took over Yuri's throat, and he leaves the rink in search of a water fountain or soda machine down the hall.

Georgi's program music plays as he walks towards the door. _Wilderness_ pops up in Yuri's mind as he turns his head around to see Georgi take the first few steps of his program before exiting.

* * *

 _After the first half of practice._

"You've grown from the last time we met at the 2016 NHK Trophy," Laurel observes Yuri. The skaters were all sitting in a large snack room overlooking the outside streets covered in snow. "And so did your hair. It's more windswept, more natural. Overall, better."

Yuri does his best to keep his blush to a minimum as he makes eye contact with the older woman. "You've changed quite a lot too, Laurel. I hardly recognized you with your hair tied up. Though I will always remember you by your spirals."

"Ah, you flatter me. But it has been getting hard, keeping this flexibility up as age catches up to me. But I don't have any reason to retire…yet."

"Hey, Yuri!" Max calls. He turns his phone's screen around, displaying the image of Yuri's late dog, Vic-chan on his Instagram page. "Who's this adorable Makkachin lookalike? I'd like to buy one too!"

Yuri feels a slight pang in his heart at the sight of his old pet, still haven't completely gotten over the loss yet. "That's my pet dog, I got him when I was in my preteens."

"Cool, what did you name him?" Max asks.

"...um, Victor…"

Norah accidentally spits out her sparkling water, sputtering and laughing. "No way! Hey, Victor! You're so famous, people name their pets after you! How awesome is that?"

Victor rolls his eyes as he leans back in his chair next to Yuri. "I already know that."

"You look a bit glum, Yuri," Constantine notices. "Did we touch on a touchy subject?"

Yuri nods. "My pet passed away years ago. Actually, it was during the Sochi GPF. I got a call from my family about what happened, and then…well, I bombed my free skate."

Victor sits back up from his chair, looking concerned. "Oh…so that's what happened that night."

"That was before you two became student and coach, right?" Mila confirms.

"Yeah, but I never thought of a reason like that," Victor says. "Yurio, you were there with me. We were both intrigued by Yuri's short program. But was shocked to see the free skate results. And now, I know why."

"But that's true emotions displayed on ice!" Georgi joins the conversation. "That free skate embodied the feelings Yuri was having in that moment, I bet his program components was higher than any skater that night!"

Yuri shrugs sheepishly. "Close. I placed third with my PCS, behind JJ and Victor."

"Of course." Yurio chugs down his water. He looks around the room before throwing away the empty bottle in the recycling bin. "Hey, where's Annie? I thought you guys said she was here."

Yuri's ears twitch as he recognizes that name. "Annie Vasin?"

Yurio nods. Mila points down the hall from where they all came from. "Probably still cramping in the washroom. Poor girl's on her time of the month."

Georgi shakes his head in pity. "I saw her this morning before the rest of you guys got here. She was lying on the ice, clutching her stomach and moaning and crying. Gods, that just makes you want to share some of her pain."

"If you find a machine that can split 50% of her cramp pain to you, she'd go out with you for sure!" Victor suggests.

"And why would I do that?" Georgi asks skeptically.

"Let's face the facts, Anya's never coming back. And no romantic gesture of yours will force her to come running towards with arms wide open," Mila explains. "'Sides, what's wrong with Annie, she's good-looking and available, no? You both skate here, you already good friends, and of course, have that perfect height difference! Ohh, I have an idea! Tell Yakov to switch you two to pair skating!"

"So I could accidentally drop her during one of our competitions?" Georgi questions. "I've seen those accidents! No way!"

The sound of footsteps appeared from around the corner of the hallway, the source of the footsteps eventually came around, a young woman with disheveled blonde hair. Annie Vasin limps into the snack room, one hand wrapped around her abdomen, the other grabbed anything within reach to stable her body.

She waves at Yuri. "Hi, Yuri. I heard from the others that you were visiting here. Sorry that our first meeting has me looking like such a mess."

"It's fine. I understand. Are you feeling better?" Yuri asks.

Annie sits down on an empty chair. "You're very kind, thank you. D—don't worry about me. Just continue on with your conversations."

"How could we?" Mila gestures towards Annie. "You're here."

"Oh, so you guys were just talking about me? What about?"

Georgi shoots Mila a look that would've petrified a regular person, but the effect it had on Mila was laughter. Well, almost laughter, she snorts as she attempts to keep it in.

"That your new hairstyle doesn't suit you. It looked nicer when it was straight instead of wavy." Mila points out.

Annie tilts her head. "But I like it better this way, and you guys agreed with me back in September!"

"Yeah, but Georgi didn't say anything. Your hair looks way too similar to Anya's right now, besides the colour, it's giving him bad memories. Straighten it."

Annie was in too much pain to try and lengthen the argument. She ends it by remaining silent and resting the side of her head in her arms. Laurel moves seats to sit next to Annie, gently patting her on the back for comfort.

Max returns everyone's attention back to the main couple in the room. "Well, Yuri? We're waiting."

Yuri looks confused. "For what?"

"What else? Take out your hand! Let's see that big fat engagement ring as proof of you two's commitment! We already saw Victor's, let's see yours!" Max raises his hands above his head.

"Let's see it!"

"Come on, show us!"

"Don't be shy!"

Yuri looks to Victor for permission, but he simply shrugs his shoulders and smiles. Whispering, "why should I have a say in this? It's your ring."

Carefully, Yuri removes the leather glove on his right hand and extends it out delicately for everyone to see. Their eyes boggled at the sight of the shiny golden band on his ring finger.

"WWHHHOOOAAAAA!"

Constantine grabs Yuri's hand to take a closer look. "It's a very well made brand, nice."

"Congratulations, you two!" Mila claps.

"This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…" Norah sobs.

"It's like deja vu again…" Yurio mutters, remembering the time when Phichit accidentally thought that those really _were_ engagement rings back then.

"Tell us the whole story!" Georgi begs. "Who proposed to who?"

Victor casually puts one arm around Yuri. "Well…if I remember correctly, it was Yuri who proposed!"

"AAHHHH!" Everyone squeals.

"It was in front of this bell tower, I think. And there was this choir singing not too far in front of us. Lights lit up the evening sky as snow gently fell."

"I'm taking it! I'm taking it!" Mike exclaims. "That's exactly how _I'm_ going to my gal! Except maybe instead of standing in front of a bell tower, we'll be standing at the top of Tower Sky Tree and the entire city will be lit up below us. There'll be golden lighting and…I'm out of ideas."

"What caught your attention in the first place, Victor?" Annie asks.

"His skating. Not a recorded tv version, but seeing it live."

"Let's see it then," Annie demands.

* * *

 _Back at the main rink._

"Are you sure I'm allowed to be here?" Yuri asks as he bends up and down on the ice, getting a feel for the new skates he's borrowing from Max. Similar foot size and all.

"Sure! It's a bit chopped up from our practice, but it's not too bad." Max relieves.

Yuri gulps as he looks around him. All the skaters were gathered in either in the bleachers or the sidelines of the boards, all gazing expectantly and excitedly at him. They all have high expectations of the skater who stole their star skater's heart.

"What should I skate…?" Yuri mumbles nervously.

"Yuri!" Victor shouts from the boards. "Remember how I said you'll be skating an imitation to my free skate to _Children_ when we go back to Hasetsu? Well, you know what? Screw that! Do it now!"

"Now!?"

"We have the music here! Just skate to it!"

"But I hardly remember all the steps in it! I'm going to forget halfway through!"

"Then improvise! Liv does it all the ti—you're an artist, Yuri. Forget about the steps, skate the way you feel! _Children_ was your favourite program by me. Why? Tell me why, Yuri!"

Yuri understood, but that didn't ease him of the nervousness he still feels right now. It's not a competition, but it's just as pressurizing as one. These people may not be judges, but they're fellow skaters, equals, lessers, and betters.

He's a skater too. This may not be his rink. But any ice, in anywhere in the world, is a skater's home. Stroking around the rink and warming up, Yuri thinks hard about how he pictures the free skate. The way he thinks it should be skated, the way he imagines it to be.

Minutes later, he ends the stroking and finds the spot where he wants to begin the free skate. Max activates the music system from the technology booth and selects _Children_ from the rink's 2014 playlist.

Yuri opens his eyes as soon as the music begins.

* * *

 **I LOVE LOVE LOVE Escala's version of Children, if you haven't heard it yet, please do. There's a reason why I chose this song for my imaginary Victor's free skate. It's really good.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! And if you did, please FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW! It's always appreciated! :D**

 **Bye now!**


	23. Skate What You Feel

**Disclaimer: I don't own YOI, just this fanfic. One of the quotes in here, " _Training wins competitions, hearts win the entire sport,_ " is derived from Michael Jordan's quotes, "Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."**

 **I was NOT feeling good at all the last week when working on this chapter, and it's not because of working on this chapter, but because that I was feeling horribly SICK almost all the time! I don't know why! It just seems that I lost my appetite whenever dinner came along, I felt gassy and nauseous, and I could barely eat.**

 **Then I'd got to bed and I can't lie down because it feels like I would throw up if I do. So I ended up sitting against my headboard watching Fullmetal Alchemist, Fairy Tail, HunterXHunter, Guilty Crown, Erased, and of course Yuri On Ice (to get some more motivation for this working on this fanfic), until around TWO in MORNING! I haven't gone to see a doctor yet since it's not really an illness of any kind...but I did mention this to my parents. My mom's accommodating to my non-appetite every dinner now, making me porridge and bread, I love her!**

 **I tried to work on this chapter as often as I could when I wasn't feeling like I was about to puke all over my laptop's keyboard! But I did it! And right now, I'm slowly feeling better. I don't know why I wasn't feeling too good in the first place! I know it's usually the sign of nervousness, but there's nothing really nervous to be about other than...BACK TO SCHOOL.**

 **Never mind, the mystery's solved. I think. On second thought, a visit to the clinic won't be so bad.**

 **Please FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW! Seriously please do...that's the best medicine I could ask for. ;)**

* * *

 **Ch. 21: Skate What You Feel**

 _Mar. 2014._

Lots of things changed after the events of the Sochi Olympics. Good and bad. For one, Liv has returned to her outdoor rink to practice again instead of continuing to practice at the St. Petersburg rink despite Yakov's offer. The outdoor rink where she felt most free. That ice was her sanctuary.

At his own rink, Yakov began allowing Victor to add more new styles and improvisations to his programs. And drilling other skaters plus telling other coaches to begin focusing more on expression and interpretation.

The events of the Olympics really opened his eyes, and Yakov is clearly upset by the direction the ISU is forcing skating to go down. He isn't stopping everyone from practicing their jumps, he's just bringing another important component more into the light.

Victor himself begins having more fun with his programs, changing some areas up via arm movements and head tilts. However, as everyone at the St. Petersburg Arena is working on artistry, the exact opposite could be said of Liv.

Liv, who was deeply affected by the results of the Olympics and the message that made itself clear before her. She puts all of her energy into improving her jumping distance and height. The bigger the jump, the better.

She's beginning to accept the cold reality, that competitions aren't about art anymore. All scores are based on jumps rather than anything else.

"If that's the way things are, then so be it." Liv declares as she completes a waltz loop jump combination into a backspin.

Victor rests his arms on the boards of the outdoor rink, rubbing his hands together to keep warm in the cold winter afternoon.

"You don't have to let go of your other skills too, you know." He reminds.

"And I won't. Like hell, I would." Liv continues around the rink, completing several consecutive single axels, each one higher than the last. "But I'm sick of being barely satisfied with my own scores. For once, I'd like to sit at the kiss-and'-cry and say, 'wow, I actually did really good!' Instead of, 'eh? Where did I go wrong?' I'm taking out those under-rotation deductions and zero grade of executions!"

"Want me to bring back the harness again like back then?"

Liv prepares to enter a double axel this time. "Sure, but it won't of much help unless I find my own way of increasing height without the harness."

She takes off ice from her forward outside edge and leaps into the air. She tries to spring up as much as she could and achieve maximum height, but after doing that, she has troubles controlling her body midair.

Unable to bring her arms and legs into the backspin the position, Liv opens up and falls back down onto the ice on both feet, nearly stumbling onto her bottom. She lets a sigh of frustration.

"But the harness will help you get the feeling of spinning midair at a higher level. Then we'll find out what's keeping you from achieving maximum height," Victor stretches his back out then checks his phone for the time.

It is time for him to go meet with Yakov for some extra private lessons in the evening. They always did this in the month leading up to the World Championships. This year, the Worlds is being held in Saitama Japan.

He picks up his skating bag from the snow covered bleachers and walks around the rink's sidelines towards the parking lot, stopping at one end.

Liv works on her entrance to the double axel, getting used to the high springy kick from the right leg and arms before quickly and smoothly snapping into the tight air position. Victor waits for her to nearly finish.

"Hey, I'm going now 'kay? I'll see you tomorrow, work on keeping yourself tight and upright when you're in the air alright?"

"I'll have that permanently etched into my mind."

Victor smiled and crosses his arms. "I don't get a goodbye kiss?"

Gradually her right back outside edge, Liv returns the smile and skates over to the side of the rink where Victor, pulling him in for a quick kiss before returning to practice again.

They never stated it officially to each other, but well, after the events of the Olympics, they just kind of got closer and became more comfortable around each other in a romantic relationship kind of setting.

He'd go pick her up from her college more often now and go over to her place and vice versa. Sometimes, they'd go out to eat, but due to the lives they live, they rarely have the luxury of enjoying themselves like regular people would.

Instead, they keep their outings simple, walking around the streets of the city at night, clad in large winter jackets and scarves, admiring the scenery, the people, and the things on sale. All of this hand in hand.

Hugs, teases, and kisses have been exchanged every now and then, and it feels completely normal now. But the best times are when they are connected by the ice, working together, watching each other, teaching and learning.

That's what really keeps them connected. Not through phone calls, or visits, or flowers, but simply being on the ice.

First and foremost, they are skaters. And if there comes a day when all skaters are forced to choose between skating and a significant other, many of them will choose skating.

* * *

 _Present time. St. Petersburg Ice Arena_.

Yuri takes his time easing into the pace of the slow opening of _Children_. His eyes looked down on the ice, focusing on each individual step and trying to cover as much area as possible.

He circles around the rink in backward crossovers, preparing to enter the first jump of this program, the quadruple lutz/triple toe combination.

 _I have the option of changing it, Victor wants me to skate the way I want to, but if I change it to something easier, will they think less of me?_

Yuri nears the other end of the rink. _Will I even land this? How about a compromise? I'll do only the quadruple lutz and take out the triple toe after, in case I don't land too well._

A quick turn reversed Yuri's direction and he crosses his left leg over his right, bringing his arms up and bending down into his left knee and ankle.

 _Take risks, Yuri._

Yuri's right toepick hits the ice, vaulting him into the air at the same time as he rotates his arms and hips. He pulls tight into his backspin position and tries to keep his weight over the right side of his body.

Four times he rotated before landing on his right skate, extending his arms and legs in a strong landing position. His heart skips a beat as he realizes that he just landed his first _clean_ quadruple lutz. He can add in the triple toe combination now!

Reaching back with his left toe pick, Yuri prepares his arms and body for the take-off of the triple toe. He was a bit excited from his successful lutz and couldn't quite control himself too well. His triple toe was landed but could've been better.

 _Whatever, time to move on._

Yuri thinks hard, trying to remember the transitions that led from the first jump to the next one, the triple axel. But his mind was more focused on the jump itself than the steps in between. He ends up flubbing several steps and just skates directly into the entrance of the jump.

The triple axel was huge and well-landed. It earned the applause of the spectating rinkmates, but as Yuri looks to the sidelines at Victor, he sees him crossing his arms and gently shaking his head at him. That's when Yuri realizes that he's not skating the way Victor wanted him to.

 _Are jumps everything there is in skating?_

Yuri answers his own question by suddenly beginning a new footwork sequence of his own starting with a quick pivot. He sucks in his fears and squeezes his eyes tight, trying to force ideas and movements to flow out on its own.

Halfway through his sequence, Yuri hits a blank space in his mind, he's out of ideas on how to keep the steps flowing. He begins repeating turns and crossovers as the music continues to play. _Come on! Think, Yuri! Think!_

 _Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!_

The sound of a single person clapping makes Yuri raise his head. Yurio stood up at the bleachers, clapping in time to the music. Pretty soon, everyone else got into it, the sound of the clapping matched the build-up in the music.

Yuri feels the entire rink shift into a different place around him. It feels like a free and wonderful place to be, no longer constricted and small. With this new atmosphere and sense of support in the air, Yuri unleashes his inner creativity and goes into a flying camel.

The entire ice begins to disappear beneath his skates as he spun. This was his free skate now. He'll show them. His interpretation of Victor's performance.

The music reaches the fast climax and Yuri begins it with a huge strong quadruple salchow/half loop/triple toe loop. Victor bangs his skate guards against the boards in ecstasy, nearly popping out one of its springs.

Yuri flashes him a confident smile as an answer to his previous question on why he loved the _Children_ free skate so much.

 _It's because there's so many areas that can be improvised and adjusted for personal tastes and left for the imagination…_

And this was Yuri's. He forgets about impressing the spectating rinkmates, about trying to do Victor proud, about not making a fool of himself.

He skates as naturally as the time when he first performed Victor's _Stay Close to Me_ free skate to Yuko Nishigori. He was perfectly comfortable that night. And he is perfectly comfortable now.

Victor squeezes his fists in joy as his rinkmates applauded and cheered all around him, banging against the boards and chairs. This is the kind of Yuri he wishes could appear on every ice anytime, anywhere. This is the Yuri he fell in love with.

Every transition, every stop and pivot, every field move, it was placed there for a reason. It was used to bring out the beauty of the song. Even the jumps were used as tools to make the performance more beautiful and climatic rather than being there just because.

Yuri finishes the entire free skate with a mind blowing combination spin. He returns to reality as the music ends and he is left breathless and sweaty. The sound made by everyone present in the rink, including several other coaches and skaters who entered during the performance, is almost too great to be true.

Yuri smiles as he lets himself bathe in the shower of appreciation and admiration. He could get used to this. From the exit of the rink, Victor stood there with open arms. Yuri half runs half skates towards him.

This time, Victor didn't jump out of the way last minute. Yuri nearly knocks him over, but Victor manages to hold his ground. Everyone rushes around or near them.

"That was amazing!"

"Absolutely spectacular!"

"As expected from Yuri Katsuki, the artiste on ice!"

Victor wraps one arm tightly around Yuri, his face beaming with pride. He looks down at him with proud eyes.

"That's my fiancé for you," he declares loudly before placing a quick kiss on Yuri's head.

The entire rink breaks out in an even louder round of applause and cheers and flashes of light from phone cameras.

Yuri sighs and leans his head against Victor's shoulder. No longer questioning about the strength and stability of their bond.

* * *

 _March. 26, 2014. Saitama, Japan._

Victor watches as the last skater for the men's short program finishes his skate with a score of 89.27. Well, that settles it!

Looks like he's leading the short program once again, just like he does every year, well usually every year. Yakov pats him on the back suddenly, Victor turns around to see his coach hand him a hot cup of coffee another cup held in his other hand.

"Thanks."

"You need it. There are more interviews tonight," Yakov reminds.

Victor sighs as he begins walking out of the rink and out to the halls towards the exit of the large arena. Yakov walks beside him, equally stressed. Besides Victor, he has to worry about Constantine, Annie, and Laurel.

And these people are never in the same place unless they scheduled a visit to some nearby National park for lots and lots of group photos and selfies. Which is almost never.

Yakov sympathizes with Victor. "Trust me, I'm just as tired as you are. But you have a public to please and a free skate to skate. Then the season's over and it's time for off-ice training."

Victor pushes his hair back from his eyes. "It's not that. Usually, I look forward to these interviews and public/media stuff, but I'm just feeling off right now. It's like everything's too predictable! I skate, I win, I answer questions and sign autographs, we go home and train. And it repeats over and over and over…"

"I get it," Yakov answers.

"You do?" Victor is not expecting Yakov to actually understand him.

"You just want to go out and see the spring festival that's being held these few weeks."

Victor laughs. "Yeah, I do. It seems so lively and it looks like there are all kinds of souvenirs I could bring home for my folks!"

"But you're really feeling down right now too," Yakov adds. "It does get repetitive after two or three years of this cycle of competing. It doesn't feel as exciting at the Worlds as it did the first time, eh, Victor?"

"It's almost the end of the season, Yakov. And I don't feel very accomplished. Though, that's probably because of my accident at the Olympics…god fucking damnit—"

"LANGUAGE!" Yakov hits him on the elbow hard, nearly knocking the coffee cup out of his hand.

"Sorry. But yeah, it doesn't feel 'magical' here anymore. So please, just let me go, Yakov. Let me enjoy myself."

Yakov looks at his phone's schedule and sighs. "I'll try and make up some sort of excuse, but you're going to have to stay twice as long after the free skate for those reporters!"

"It's worth it, you're the best!" Victor waves goodbye as he turns around the corner, running towards the exit of the arena.

The lights shone brilliantly outside, not too far away, Victor could already see the crowd of people walking around the stands of the large spring festival being held nearby. The snow had stopped falling a few minutes ago, covering the ground with a fresh layer of white, only to be ruined as he began walking through it.

First things first, Victor quickly returns to his hotel room to grab a warmer jacket, his wallet and of course, recharge his phone. When he believes everything is ready and set, he rushes out the door and down the elevator. The festival isn't too far from his location.

The elevator's doors open and Victor runs out across the grand front lobby… _vibrate! Vibrate!_ He takes out his phone and answers without looking at the caller id.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me!" Liv's voice introduces herself on the other end.

"Wha…when did you get here?" Victor walks over to an empty chair in the sitting area to lean against.

"Just this morning, I checked in at the same hotel. Thought it'd be a nice surprise. I wanted to wait until after your short program was over. Is there something wrong?"

"No! No! I'm just…this is the last I was expecting, that's all. But I'm really glad you're here! Where are you right now? I'm at the hotel lobby."

"Don't go anywhere! I'm leaving my room right now, I'll meet you down there!"

"Liv, you got any plans?"

"Yeah! There's this festival out there—"

"That's what I thought."

* * *

 _Saitama spring festival._

Everything everywhere is well-decorated and lit up with lanterns and other warm colourful objects. Victor is so taken by the sight that he completely forgot about taking photos with his phone. In front of at a stand selling a bunch of kites, was Liv, bundled up warmly in a winter getup.

That's all they've been all evening. Going from stand to stand. Looking at the items on display from really cute sculptures and puppets, to grand paintings and replicas of ancient relics. They sampled all kinds of dishes that were offered to all people.

There was even an area filled with instruments and musical equipment of all kind, allowing anyone to come up and perform whatever they want. Victor tries to get Liv to either sing something or play the piano, but she confesses that the coldness of the air will downgrade her performance.

"I'll sing or play something for you in a warmer environment. And I'll do it properly too!" She promises.

"I've heard you hum anime openings, endings, and osts all the damn time. But I never heard you play the piano. You got to show me that song you and your Detroit friend are making."

"Alright then, when we finish making and recording it, I'll send you a copy of the audio file. 'Kay?"

"Don't forget!"

"And don't call her 'Detroit friend' either, ok? Her name's Ketty Abelashvili. But if you're friends with her, you must call her 'Holly,' she personally hates the name 'Ketty,' but I think it's adorable! Anyways, where else do you want to go? Or do you want to split up for now?"

Victor looks around him, trying to find anything that's worthy of bringing back home to his parents, more specifically, his mom. His eyes found…nothing yet. Yep, it's going to take awhile. And he'd rather not drag Liv behind him all night.

"I'll be looking for some gifts on my own, alright? You can enjoy yourself until I'm done!"

"Fine by me. Call don't text." Liv waves before she turns around and disappears into the crowd.

Victor turns back around and looks at the all that awaits him. He tries to walk up to a stand selling some kind of large wooden and metal instrument, but before he could speak to the seller, a large family stepped out of nowhere in front of him.

Not wanting to wait his turn, he turns his head around and sees a food stand with several sellers pleasing customers with all sorts of delicacies. Victor seizes this opportunity and buys an entire bag of seafood as well as taking a cold-packaged box of the same product.

Next, he runs to a stand that was nearly surrounded by children. And when he sees the item that was sold, he understood why. Large beautifully-crafted and colourful kites were given out as if they were for free!

After carefully making his way around the crowd of tiny people and their parents, Victor grabs a large flower-shaped kite and gently tucks it away in his messenger bag. It was a good thing he brought it along!

There was just so much to explore, and not enough time to explore it all! Stand after stand, greeting after greeting, Victor begins to feel maybe this World Championships isn't as boring as he thought it would. He never left a place empty handed or empty hearted.

By the end of his shopping spree, he got a box of traditional jewellery, historical scrolls and paintings, beautiful robes for his mom, packaged food, origami instruction books, and more. His bag is at its limit by now. Time to call Liv.

"I'm done getting stuff, where are you?"

"At the tiny river where they give out boat rides, right at the dock. It shouldn't be too hard to find. I got a surprise for you. Come!"

Liv was right, it wasn't too hard to find. Victor only needed to follow the distant lamppost that marked the dock where people are lining up to ride on the boat. Liv is standing off to the side a little so that she wouldn't be blocking the line for anyone who wants to go on. She turns around upon Victor's arrival.

"Whoa, your bag's looking really big. You want me to take some of the smaller stuff out? I don't have a bag, but it's fine by me."

"Nah it's fine—actually, sure. Here take this. And this. And this. And…that's good enough." Victor hands Liv the origami book, the box of syrup candy, and the box of jewellery.

She carefully balances them out before tucking them under her arm like school textbooks. "Oh, hold on! I almost forgot about the surprise!"

Victor removes his slightly-lighter now messenger bag and settles it onto the ground. He looks at Liv curiously as she single-handedly reaches into her jacket pocket and fumbles around to look for something.

A second later, her hand emerges with a silver chain necklace, but it was the round object dangling around the end of it that got Victor's attention. A shiny gold ring, yes an actual ring for the finger, hangs through the chain, gleaming in the festive lights.

Victor has no words as he continues to stare at the ring swaying back and forth in front of his eyes as if Liv was trying to hypnotize him. She enthusiastically grins at him. "I know what you're thinking, but that's not why I got this. Here, look closer."

She gives Victor the necklace and he brings the ring close to his face. There is some writing on the side of it, written in tiny white curvy letters. _"Training wins competitions, hearts win the entire sport."_

"Agree? Disagree? Or unsure?" Liv asks when Victor looks up after reading.

"I'm not taking this off, never," Victor declares as he fastens the chain around his neck. "How did you find something like this here?"

"Destiny," Liv answers as she pulls out something from within her jacket. It was an identical chain with the ring! "And it just so happened, the seller had more than one available. This is amazing, Victor. I was never much of a dreamer, to be honest, ever since leaving the US, reality was just cold and harsh, but had its fair share of interesting events. But it looks like some things don't just happen coincidentally."

"I like to think that things happen because we pushed life down that path," Victor adds. "Look at you, you won the Nationals this year, you did pretty darn good at your first Olympics, and next year, you'll be going to the Worlds with Angela, all better and healthy."

"Maybe you're right. I'm improving on my height a lot lately, and I can say that my double axel is much better than before! Angela's chemotherapy treatment is nearing its end now too, I heard she's going to be discharged soon. I'm so happy for her!"

Victor picks up his messenger bag and puts it over his shoulders. "Things'll happen, good or bad, it's up to us to make good use of it. And who knows? Maybe later on, I'll start helping you out in paying your bills! Or vice versa!"

"We'll see how it goes. We'll see."

A young man with a large digital camera suddenly comes up to them, politely greeting and smiling. "Hi, there! Would you like a photo as a memory of tonight?"

Victor looks at Liv for her opinion, who tilts her head at him in the question. They both nod. Victor reaches into his wallet, preparing to take out some cash. "Sure, how much?"

"Oh, you pay at the photos booth near the entrance of the festival," the photographer clarifies. "I just take it the photo, ready?"

Victor quickly removes his bag once again and brushes off any snow on his clothing as Liv puts down the items she was holding and repositions her scarf so that the lower end of her face won't be cut out.

The photographer positions himself in front of his models, making sure to capture them at a good angle and lighting. Victor looks at Liv moving behind him and half jumping onto his back. She makes an ok sign with her right hand.

He chuckles and smiles as he reaches his left arm up and across his chest to clasp hers on his shoulders. The photographer smiles too as he readies the camera.

"Alright! Three…two…one… _FLASH_!"

* * *

 _Later that evening…_

The streets were still bustling and lit up as Victor leads the way back to the hotel from the festivities, pulling Liv's arm behind him. His new golden ring dangling on the silver chain around his neck.

The two of them run through the slightly dispersed crowd of people by now, beaming like schoolchildren on their way home from school.

This was the heat of the moment for Victor, he wants to keep this feeling up forever, but unfortunately, that's impossible. So might as well make this as memorable as possible.

 _At the outdoor cafe table…_

Yakov sighs as he sits back in his chair, warming his hands around the cup of coffee on the table. Celestino shakes his head from the chair in front of Yakov.

"At this rate, you'll drive yourself into an early grave! Don't pin the blame on your students!"

"Can't help it. I'm worried," Yakov admits.

"About what? Exactly?"

"My students."

"Too general. And why? You've trained them well, as well as you can, the rest is up to them. The first free skate event begins the day after tomorrow, there's only so much you can do."

Yakov sits upright in his chair. "That's not it. I'm wasn't thinking about their skating."

 _Back at the hotel…_

The elevator dings at the 10th floor, Liv's floor. They get off it and rush down the hallway towards her booked room.

But as Liv took out her assigned key cards, Victor grabs them away from her. She turns around in surprise, seeing him casually put it away in his back pocket and smirking at her.

"Why don't you come with me?"

Liv's eyes widened and jaw dropped. The bright golden lights of the hallway illuminate in her pupils.

 _Outdoor cafe…_

"I wasn't thinking about their skating," Yakov clarifies. "I was thinking about their off-ice lives. It's strange really, I've been teaching them for so long and yet, I still feel like a stranger to their private lives."

Celestino moves aside his cup to clear the path across the table. "You never talked to them about their personal daily stuff? Parents, schools, pets, favourite tv shows, stuff like that?"

Yakov shakes his head. "Oh no, no, no! I know all of that stuff about them, I'm talking about things only close friends would tell each other. Secrets, hidden childhood crimes, drama in romantic relationships… _that_ kind of stuff."

He also pushes his coffee cup away, like Celestino. "Heck, I didn't even know Georgi's troubling relationship with Anya existed until a week before the GPF! _Sigh_ …after all this time, I'm still only a skating coach to them."

Celestino remains silent and listens.

"If there comes a time when they're breaking down over something I'm in the dark too, and no one but me is around…how am I supposed to help them? What's a coach supposed to do in that moment?"

 _Hotel room…_

Liv slumps onto her stomach on the large fluffy bed in the middle of the room, feeling the softness of the comforter and mattress. Victor falls onto his back next to her, making a make-believe snow angel.

"Good luck on your free skate," Liv mumbles into the comforter.

Victor grabs a pillow and hits her on the head. "No more talk about skating 'kay? I'm in my happy place right now, don't drag me out."

"Then leave!" Liv pushes the pillow of her and turns her head to face him. She closes her eyes and smiles. "Find your happy place somewhere else…"

Victor sits back up on the bed. He rubs Liv on the top of her head, messing up her hair a bit. She didn't complain and continued to pretend to sleep.

"I'm taking a quick shower, I'll be back. And if it gets too warm in here, might as well get out of that winter getup!"

 _Outdoor cafe…_

Celestino listens understandingly to Yakov, coming to terms with his feelings towards his skaters. He offers some advice.

"You want to know what to do, my friend? Snap them out of it, bring them back to reality. 'Cause if you're just a skating coach, then _be_ the ultimate skating coach! Nothing matters more in that moment than their performance, so tell them to suck it up and skate!"

Yakov brings back his coffee cup and takes a sip of the drink inside, it was a bit cool by now. "Easier said than done. The thing with my skaters, is that they're all very emotional, the slightest tip of the equilibrium, and they're a bawling red-eyed mess. It reflects on the ice too unfortunately."

"Well, then I don't know how to help. Sorry," Celestino shrugs. "Why _are_ you talking about this in the first place? Are you having some drama problems with one or more of your skaters?"

"Not now, but I'm planning ahead. You never know when a heartbreak will happen, no matter the reason."

 _Hotel room…_

Victor emerges from the bathroom in a fluffy white robe, cool and refreshed from his quick shower. He walks towards the large bed while drying his hair with a red towel.

He looks around. Liv is nowhere to be found. Just when he is about to call her name, he feels a warm pair of arms wrap around him from behind. He embraces one of her hands for a moment before letting go and turning around.

Liv stood before him, also in a fluffy white robe. She tightens the waist rope to keep the oversized clothing from becoming too loose on her feminine frame.

"What? You think I magically teleported my suitcase containing my PJs up here? No. Hope you don't mind me borrowing one of these bathrobes," Liv adjusts the top neck collar sheepishly.

"I like it better this way," Victor says matter-of-factly. He makes his way over to the lamp and turns on the small tabletop one then turning off the floor lamp. He sits on the bed, stretching his arms.

Liv climbs on top of the bed too and kneels next to him. "Me too."

She closes in slowly and breaks the tension with a gentle kiss. He brings one hand up next to her face, brushing some strands of hair behind her ear while the other hand finds its way to her hand, clasping it tightly.

The gentleness slowly builds up to more intensity.

 _Outdoor cafe…_

Yakov orders another cup of coffee while Celestino gets a sandwich. He remains quiet this time, not responding to Yakov's laments.

"The closer someone gets to someone, the harder it'll be to get over that someone. Georgi's proven his point, he's barely holding onto his relationship with Anya now, and the worst part is, I can't do anything about it!"

Celestino sighs and begins to look a bit tired by now but still listens out of respect. " _Yawn_. If you really want to do something, stop complaining and start talking to them. 'Cause I'm out of words to say to you."

Yakov realizes how long he's been rambling on. "Oh! I'm sorry. I've talked too much. I'm sorry. I should take more action, you're right."

"Finally!" Celestino slumps into the back of his chair. "You have to reaffirm yourself as their coach and pillar of support. Yeah, you may not understand what they're going through all the time, but to be honest. That's not your job, I already told you! Get them to focus on the ice."

"The ice. That's the one thing that keeps us all connected really. Rivals, friends, siblings, teachers, all connected by the ice. No matter where we are, I believe as long as we skate, we're never detached."

 _Hotel room…_

Victor falls onto his back on top of the bed, slowly sinking into the mattress. Below him was the softness of the comforter, and above him was the beautiful view of his significant other's face.

He raises a hand to play with the wavy locks of her hair before pulling her down to his face. The other hand reaches out to the nightstand and turns off the lamp.

The room becomes dark, with only the moonlight and city lights streaming in from the large windows with curtains wide open. As soon as the lamp was off, Victor rolls Liv onto her back.

* * *

 **I'm feeling gassy again once again after finishing editing this chapter. What does it take to end these waves of nausea followed by joint pains and horrible hunger the next morning! Ugh! Must watch more anime...it's the only thing that gets my mind off my stomach!**

 **Anyways, please FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW once again!**

 **Thanks for reading! :D**


	24. Things are finally starting to look up

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **This week is back to school for me and luckily, my stomach's settled down. But my heart hasn't. This is my last year of high school. Which means marks really matter. Which means university applications. Which means having a CLEAR SIGHT OF WHO I WANT TO FUCKING BE IN THE FUTURE!**

 **AHHHH! My head's exploding from all this pressure!**

 **Oh and it also means slower updates on this fanfic! So right before school begins, I'll post this chapter and see how my schedule will fare. I think the first few weeks won't be so bad. I'll update as regularly as possible, but around the middle of the semester, that's when things will get hectic. And I'll put an author's note to tell you guys I'll be going on hiatus.**

 **I will not go on hiatus without informing you guys first. Promise!**

 **Anyways, please FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW! :D**

* * *

 **Ch. 22: Things are finally starting to look up...**

 _Mar. 27, 2014. Saitama, Japan. Victor's hotel room._

The sound of a phone vibrating is what woke Victor up from a beautiful sleep. He groggily tries to move his body but realizes he's kind of stuck. Next to him, lies a sleeping Liv, clutching his left arm.

He regains more consciousness and gently pulls his arm out of her grip, which wasn't too hard luckily. In response, she rolls over, taking some of the comforter with her. Reaching out to the top of the nightstand, Victor grabs his phone which has stopped vibrating by now, and checks to see who was calling.

 _Mom - One missed call._

Sighing, Victor checks the rest of his notifications from his texts, social media accounts, and emails. He lies down on the bed, swiping across the screen of his phone above him. He rarely did this as he knows it isn't good for his eyes, but he's just too lazy to adjust the pillows to allow him to sit against the headboard.

Liv stirs around some more, her bare back turned to him as she slowly inches away from the center of the bed and towards the edge of it. Victor keeps a careful eye on her to make sure she's not going to tumble over the side.

This was the most she's moved around while sleeping. All night, she was a pretty peaceful sleeper, and she was very warm too. _And smelled like jasmines…_

Another notification appears from Instagram and Victor quickly checks to see who commented on his photo of him and his rinkmates attempting to create a human pyramid. Once again, it was one of his fan-followers, saying _'wow, u guys make ANYTHING look epic!'_

"Good morning," Liv suddenly says as she steps out of the comforter and sits on the edge of the bed, picking up her bathrobe from the floor in front of her and putting it on before turning around to face Victor.

"Morning, sweetheart," he answers in a half-joking half-serious tone.

Liv throws him his robe in response. "That vibration from your phone, was it Yakov?"

"My mom," Victor corrects as he wraps the bathrobe around him and lies back down. "Yakov didn't bother to call or text me at all, surprisingly. Good for him, he deserves a break from constantly worrying about me and my rinkmates. A nice long overdue sleep to ease the stress. Let's hope he doesn't wake himself up too early!"

Liv moves closer to Victor and gently pokes him on his forehead. "And this one time he decided not to bother you, you fooled around hardcore."

"What do you mean _I_ fooled around hardcore? _You_ were the one who flew here with your own money and missing several days of your classes! Be honest, you were just following your hormones," Victor returns the head-poke to her.

"You too. I could tell that much from last night that you've been wanting to know what was hidden underneath all those layers of fabric I wear everyday," Liv smirks. "And so did I."

Victor sighs in relaxation as he covers his eyes with the back of one hand, relieving himself of all stress yet to come. "What time is it?"

"Six fifty-eight, the sun's barely up. When are you planning to get out?"

"Whenever you leave the bed," Victor mumbles. "As long as you're here, this is my haven."

"And if I never leave?"

"I'll make sure no one ever comes in then."

Liv places her hands and chin on top of Victor's chest, feeling the gentle rising and falling of each breath. "So, tell me, Victor. What number am I? I can't possibly be your first."

"Nope, you're number one," Victor states blankly, causing Liv's eyes to become as wide as pancakes. "Unless you count all those past times when I almost went all the way with my significant other. It was always super close to the climax, but right before it…they'd just make up some excuse or suddenly decides to change their mind. So I never exactly…completed it."

"No way, Victor…" Liv laughs. "You were a pure man until last night! I still can't get this around my head!"

Victor chuckles at the sensation of laughter against his chest. "What about you, Liv? What number am I?"

"What do you think?"

"Well, judging from recent experience, you're definitely no virgin. Who was number 1?" Victor asks knowingly.

Liv smiles and thinks. "Hmmm, he was my high school beau. We spent a lot of time together, we had fun. He'd come to my competitions whenever possible and would always bring me a new _Ludovico Einaudi_ song, he knows what I like. He was on the verge of heartbreak when I told him I would be moving to Russia with my coach to train after high school graduation. So I decided to give him a night to never forget me by. And years later, here I am."

"Here you are." Victor sits up from his position as Liv lifts herself up too. "In the bed of another guy. Hmm. I guess you're not as innocent as I once thought you were."

"It's fun playing the innocent card, nobody suspects you of anything until you become super close with them. And at least I didn't have 16 breakups ever since my middle school years!"

"Nope, but bedded two different guys which is more serious than 16 breakups," Victor counters as he pulls Liv in for a heated kiss.

She wraps her arms around him and he holds her by the waist, straddling her on his lap, covered by the comforter. Liv took a step back to allow the both of them to breathe again and her countering Victor's previous remark.

"I doubt that."

The next second, she continues the kiss, gradually growing in passion and intensity. They felt time slip away along with all the care in the world, which made Victor disappointed when Liv suddenly pulled back and released herself from him.

She gets up from the bed and stretches. "Better stop before things get out of control again."

" _Sigh_. See, if I wasn't here for a competition, oh, I wouldn't let you an inch away from the bed."

"Hahaha. But this is one, and I need to get some proper clothes back on before anybody else comes knocking at the door."

Victor half-buries himself beneath the sheets, trying to fill in the warm void Liv left behind with him. It didn't too long for Liv to get her attire from last night back on, albeit the winter jacket held on her arm.

She walks past the bed and chuckles. "Now you know the feeling of yearning. Have fun restraining those hormones all day today!"

Victor springs back up from the covers. "Hey, where you going?"

"The local pharmacy, where else? Hopefully, they'll have some Plan-B pills there. Best take them 24 hours after doing it to increase the chances of it working! I mean, we don't want a sudden surprise three weeks later!"

Liv opens the door to leave the room, and nearly whacks Yakov right in the nose with it! He takes a few steps back, his face pale from almost getting his nose removed by a mere door! Liv instantly apologizes, but Yakov was more focused on the fact that Liv is here in Victor's room.

And very early in the morning too…Yakov peeks behind Liv and sees Victor stretching and yawning on the side of the bed, still in his bathrobe. Yakov quickly solves what had happened last night here.

"VICTOR!"

Victor makes a beeline for the bathroom as Yakov runs after him with a rolled up newspaper he grabbed from the top of the dresser. Liv attempts to walk back in.

"Umm, should I stay?"

"What? Oh no! It's fine!" Victor assures with a panicking voice. "I got this, you go to the pharmacy!"

"VICTOR, YOU…YOU…WHATEVER FOOLS LIKE YOU SHOULD BE CALLED!"

That got Victor to begin laughing like a madman, which of course, made Yakov rage even more. Liv couldn't bring herself to leave just yet, it felt wrong leaving Victor with all the blame when she shared half of it.

"Yakov! Come on, if he's a fool, then I'd be an even bigger one. Give him some slack, we all need to escape reality once in awhile," Liv says loudly towards the bathroom.

"No way! You're taking his side now?" Yakov shouts in exasperation.

Victor shoots out from the bathroom door and runs towards the walk-in-closet on the other side of the room, passing Liv standing by the entrance on the way.

"Sorry, hon, for all this violence, but I promise to make it up after lunch!"

Yakov follows close behind, stopping before the closed closet door and trying to get it opened as Victor holds the handle down from the inside.

Seeing that there's nothing she could do to break the situation, Liv slowly backs out the front door.

"Alright…I'll come back for you! Just hold on!" She blows a kiss before closing the door behind her.

* * *

 _Present time. St. Petersburg Ice Rink_.

It is now late in the afternoon and the beginning of evening will start very soon. Practice at the rink is now over. Victor runs out of the change room with his bag flying behind him. Yuri is waiting out in the front lobby.

Victor tackles him from behind, which Yuri by now is sort of used to. He sighs and accepts the hug. Victor lets go and takes him by the arm.

"Let's go out somewhere tonight," he proposes.

"Fine by me. See? Practice wasn't so bad! You're done now!" Yuri gestures to him happily leaving the rink.

Victor takes a long glance at the rink behind him before giving a shrug and continues to lead them towards his car.

The first they did is drive home and put away the skating bag. And of course, refill Makkachin's food and water bowl. Then they went back down and out to the car.

It is now evening, the sky is dark and the lamps are on. Victor drives the two of them down into the more urban district of the city.

The deeper they drove into the area, the more lights and people and festivities Yuri saw. Of course, it is almost the New Years! His own family should be preparing too back home. Probably hoping that he returns for the celebration.

More than anything, Yuri wants to return too. But things aren't quite finished here with Victor—

"Are you ok?" Victor suddenly asks as they pull up in a parking lot behind an unknown building of sorts.

Yuri realizes how quiet he's been. He gives Victor a light shake of his head. "I shouldn't say this, but I kind of nee—want to get home for New Years. Even if it's a day later. My family's expecting me. Sorry for bringing this up."

Victor didn't look upset or anything similar to it. Instead, he smiles and turns off the car. "Sure. I've pre-ordered tickets for my own flight since I was expecting this. Let's go back together, Yuri. I'm not done making amends to you and your family yet."

"You're always arranging your plans to fit my own. How could I feel good about you already planning to go back with me?"

"It's fine, really. I didn't exactly have much of a plan myself, to begin with. Just go to my parents' home and do whatever they planned. So it's really _their_ plans, not my own. You're not a burden, Yuri." Victor unclips his seatbelt and leans closer. "Least of all, to me."

Yuri holds his breath as he waits for the anticipated action that never came. Victor leans back again and opens the door, stepping out. "What are you waiting for? Come on!"

Stepping out of the car, Yuri looks at his surroundings. Beyond the parking lot is a large open field with park benches, fountains, and lots of people walking along the stone path. It is decorated with bright golden lights strung from lamppost to lamppost. A large Christmas tree stood in the middle of the field, making the evening seem brighter than normal.

Victor pulls Yuri's arm again, running with him through the shallow snow. They reach the field, and Yuri feels the warmth emitting from all the lights and people gathered together. He nearly stumbles across a pebble as Victor pulls him across the path.

"Omigosh, are you alright?"

"Never been better!"

The two of them continue to run through the park. All around them, children and adults began waving sparklers in linear and curvy patterns, adding more light to the brilliance of the entire place. After catching Yuri looking longingly at a father and son chasing each other with sparklers, Victor stops by one of the many stands selling these items.

He quickly grabs two and gives one to Yuri. Yuri gazes at the thin stick of wire in his hand. This entire evening begins to feel surreal. Victor takes out the lighter that came with the package and offers to light Yuri's first.

The burst of light was so sudden and bright that Yuri nearly drops his sparkler. He waves the wire around, letting the bursts of light dance around in the air. As soon as Victor lights his own, Yuri begins walking down the path again. Victor draws a floral pattern in the air with his sparkler, earning a gasp of admiration from Yuri.

The next second, Victor begins running again, waving the sparkler behind him. Yuri shouts and chases after him, shaking his sparkler with him as he ran. They pass by more people and beautifully decorated trees as Victor leads in front.

Eventually, Yuri feels the coolness of a moist breeze against his face and the sound of waves lapping…

He stops running. They reach the end of the park, in front of them is a long stone barrier that separates the land from the enormous body of water. Victor runs up to the barrier, turning around to see if Yuri is right behind him. He gestures with his sparkler for him to come down.

Yuri runs up next to Victor as he points to the horizon of the water. Yuri follows the direction of his finger. "See that? Well, I guess you can't really see since it's dark and all, but on the other side of the lake, that's where they'll be starting the show."

"What show?" Yuri asks.

"The lights show. It should be starting any time now, if we came a little later we would've in the middle of it!"

Right before Victor could finish his sentence, the first flare shot up into the sky with a loud squealing sound. As soon as the flare reached its peak, it burst into a pattern of lights and sparkles, raining back down.

That first firework is met with immediate applause and cheers from the people all around them. Many of them began running towards the waterfront now too to get a better view, while others stayed in the park to view it from there. Yuri leans forward and anticipates the next firework to go up.

The next one goes up, followed by two other fireworks simultaneously, creating an even more spectacular show than the first. The entire sky fills up with all the possible colours on a colour palette.

"Worth it?!" Victor shouts at the top of his lungs as another firework goes up.

"Definitely!" Yuri shoots his sparkler up in the air to emphasize his joy in being here.

The combination of the lights, the darkness of the evening, the people, the fireworks, and being right next to Victor's side, has made this entire experience magical. It isn't even New Year's yet, but it sure feels like it.

"I come here every year either by myself or with family or friends," Victor explains. "It's like an introduction before the real celebration of New Year's enters. But not this year. This year, I'm going to see how Hasetsu does things."

"Then I'd better tell my sister to get an entire shipment of fireworks and light them from a boat!"

"Or I could just enjoy some nice private time with everyone you care about. Enough of this noisiness."

"But with your parents there, it'll be impossible to restrain from being noisy!" Yuri laughs.

Victor widens his eyes. "Who said they'll be going?"

"Come on, Victor. You can't just leave them behind. Let's make it official, a family get together and the reunion of us!"

"Just tell your parents to keep the beer away from my mom, otherwise the entire inn is gonna fall down." Victor sighs as he rests his head on the surface of the stony barrier. "That's my first New Year's Resolution, 'keep mom under control at all times.'"

"That's fast! Let's see, for my resolution…, I'm going to clean the entire hot springs in less than half an hour! And maybe get rid of all the ginger my mom uses in almost EVERY recipe, even if it doesn't call for ginger!"

Victor laughs. "I have another one! I'll make Georgi forget, like seriously move on, from Anya, and get together with Annie!"

"Hopefully, that'll be a healthier relationship for him."

"Aaaannnndddd. I'll be paying a visit to my mom's jewellery store," Victor adds.

"What for?"

Victor gently takes Yuri's hand and raises it so that the golden ring could be shone in the light. Yuri feels his cheeks flush and heart race as Victor smiles at him mysteriously. "To upgrade from an engagement band to an actual marital band."

Yuri feels time suddenly stop moving around him. The fireworks slow down, the children run at a walking pace, the adults laugh in a drunken tone. Only him and Victor are moving at a normal speed. This is so forward…too forward…he's caught completely off guard by what Victor just said.

He doesn't know what to feel. Happiness? Fear? Upsetness? Anger, maybe? Anger because it just feels too quick and sudden. They literally just got together like a week ago, and that was just talking and getting along like old friends.

Even though Victor showed it very explicitly, Yuri didn't feel 100% emotionally attached to him, like _romantically_ speaking! He's feeling attached to him like 75% romantically emotionally attached to Victor. He's still afraid. Afraid of something happening again that could cause their relationship to go haywire.

It's not even been a month since their first big argument and fallout in Hasetsu! Yuri needs another month or two before he could full on open his heart again to the man who swept him off his feet and changed his life forever.

But that's what his _brain_ is telling him in this moment. Yuri's _heart_ is crying out in joy. Joy that he and Victor are getting along great again, that they've put the past in the past and are moving on into a good direction. And more often than not, Yuri ignores his brain.

"A m—marital band…?" He stutters.

"What kind do you want?" Victor asks. "As long as it's within my budget, I can manage anything."

"Wait, I need to get you one too!"

Victor pulls Yuri's hand closer to him. "Worry about that later." Suddenly, something cold and smooth touches Yuri's hand. It is the chain ring around Victor's neck.

As if he's touched the top of a hot stove, Yuri withdrew his hand, surprising Victor. He looks down at what caused this to happen and quickly shoves the chain back into his sweater. It didn't make Yuri feel better immediately.

That joy and magical feeling are gone. "Victor…you don't have to flatter me on purpose just to make yourself feel better and convince yourself that you care. It hurts. It really does."

"But I'm not. I doing this because of my feelings, my real feelings. It's not to make myself feel better. I do care. And it hurts me to see you hurt."

"You still have feelings for Liv," Yuri says blankly. "You do."

When Victor didn't answer immediately, Yuri fights hard to keep his tears at bay. "I thought so…"

" _Sigh_. Whatever feelings I may still have lingering for Liv is incomparable to the ones for you. I know what you want me to say, but if I tell you that I have zero affection for her currently, I'll be lying. You can't just up and stop caring about someone the minute someone more affectionate comes into your life." Victor strokes Yuri on the back of his head. "That's not how it works. That's not how life works."

Yuri continues to remain silent as he buries his head in his arms, though he didn't mind the warmth of Victor's hand, running up and down the back of his head. Fireworks continue to go off as Victor strokes Yuri affectionately and Yuri still keeps quiet.

After about a minute or two, Victor breaks the silence with a sigh. "What you want, Yuri. Is a fairy tale, a fantasy. That's why it always hurts whenever things don't go the way you wanted it to go. I'm not letting you do this to yourself, it's time to accept reality. And in reality, changes happen all the time. We just have to adjust and make the best of it! You can still dream, but you can't forget. Dream that I'll always be by your side, that you're number one in my world. Don't forget that I will think of other people from time to time, including potential flings. But it's always you whom I'll come home to."

Yuri raises his head slightly from his arms, looking out into the horizon of the waterfront, reflecting the fireworks that are still going off. He lets Victor's words sink into his head and his heart. Those words held more truth than Yuri himself knew. It pretty much sums up his entire life from childhood to now.

Everything is a story to him. He wants to make it a story. His story. And he'll be the star of it. He'll be the one who hands in every test with a perfect score on it. He'll be the one who's well liked by everyone at school. He'll be the one to save the day. He'll be the one to stand in the center podium with a gold medal around his neck. He'll be the one to find his one and only soulmate and stay together with them, forever.

Yuri would forget that this world is full of stories and people wanting to shape it for themselves. It's competitive, harsh, and brutal at times. But it can be warm and compassionate. Like right now. It's hard to have sweet moments like this all the time, it's to be cherished.

Yuri feels tears brimming on the edges of his eyes, but it's not of sadness this time. It is the joy of finally meeting someone who can see right through him as if he's glass. The one who fits the missing piece of his puzzle. Victor is that missing piece.

And he'll never take him for granted.

The last firework shoots up into the sky. Yuri opens his mouth to say something at the same time.

"I love you."

Victor turns his head towards Yuri slowly. His mouth shut and his eyes frozen in place. Yuri refuses to look at Victor, but he knows that he heard what he just said clearly.

 _BOOM!_

The intense sound and light from the fireworks added to the perfect timing of this moment. Yuri turns his head towards Victor right at the second the last firework goes off. His eyes gleaming from the bright lights, making him seem so innocent and surreal to Victor.

Never has he seen Yuri look so beautiful before. Not until this moment that is. He feels his entire body turn to jelly like how it did that night when they first danced at the banquet after the Sochi GPF. Falling head over heels for him all over again…

Tears also begin building up in Victor's eyes as he smiles the greatest smile he's smiled at Yuri. "I love you."

"I love you."

* * *

 _June. 2014. St. Petersburg Ice Arena._

Victor finishes practice early today, as with all of the skaters at this rink. It's their summer break and they always take off early the week near the end of June, right before the hardcore off-ice training begins.

He sees the last two skaters still on the ice, Liv and his junior rinkmates, Norah. Yakov had recently called Liv in to help give Norah some tips in her skating skills and spins since Norah's a clockwise skater and he's not familiar with that direction. Luckily, Liv is comfortable with spinning and skating in the other direction besides counterclockwise. Just not jumping.

Liv was helping Norah out in her camel sit spin combination. Victor can't hear much from where he's standing and walks closer to see if the two of them are almost done.

Norah performs another spin, this time, from a three-turn entrance instead of the backward crossovers entrance. Her spin looked much stronger and faster than all of her previous spins Victor's ever saw.

The improvement is slight, but it's there. Norah and Liv saw it too. They nod and smile at each other before talking some non-coherent sentences and parting their ways.

Norah leaves the ice and makes way for the female change room while Liv removes her skates on the bleachers. Victor walks up, taking a seat next to her.

"Is Yakov paying you for helping Norah?"

"Yeah, I forgot the wage. So don't ask how much," Liv says as she puts on her sneakers and zips up her bag. "Let's go!"

Victor wraps an arm around her shoulder as they walk out of the main rink together and out towards the front entrance. The entire arena and the parking lot outside is practically empty.

Looks like nobody wants to spend any more time than necessary on the ice while they still have the time to enjoy themselves at home or on a tropical resort.

"Any plans for tonight?" Victor asks. "Your school's over long ago, my break is here until next week. Let's have fun!"

"Amusement park maybe?"

"Why not? We can try out all those ice cream cakes and sweet and sour chicken and fried milk desserts!"

Liv laughs. "I meant the rides…"

Her voice trails away as the two of them exit the building the main door and step out into the hot afternoon sun shining down on the parking lot. But it was the person a few meters in front of them that got Liv to lose her voice. And her leg strength.

The person is a tall middle-aged woman wearing a large sun hat that covered her entire head. No hair fell out beneath it or framing around her gentle eyes looking directly at the two of them standing on the front steps of the arena.

Next to the woman stood Yakov, who nodded towards them and then towards the woman. Victor sees the face Liv is making and knowingly releases her. He looks at the woman in front of him. Even though her attire is different, he still recognizes her. Though barely.

Liv, however, knows exactly who she is.

"Angela…coach Angela…?"

She begins speed walking towards Angela. Who waits anxiously for her to come up to her with open arms. Liv falls into her coach's embrace. The two women squeeze each other tightly and cry tears of happiness.

Liv pulls back to get a better look at Angela. "You're back. You're all better?"

"Better enough to be discharged, I'll have to go back to the hospital every now and then for checks and if things start going wrong again," Angela explains.

"I almost didn't recognize you without your, uh…"

"I get it, I get it. Of course, my hair would fall out!" Angela removes her sun hat, revealing a head gone of her former blonde hair. "That's chemotherapy for you. Don't worry, my kids have been getting all sorts of wigs until the hair grows back! Oh, some of them are just absolutely ridiculous, but they're kids."

The two women share a laugh and hug again. Victor slowly walks down towards them, unable to control his smile from the joy in this moment. Even Yakov looked glad! It is a happy afternoon in June, skating practice is over, their break is here, and Liv reunites with her coach Angela.

Liv finally pops the big question. "Are you going to come back to the rink this summer?"

Angela makes an unsure face. "I don't know, I hope so. I'll have to see one more test from the doctors to be sure. But even after that, I don't know if the cancer will suddenly come back. Livvy, my life will never be the same again. I'll never know the day when I'll be rushed into the emergency room again. My fight with this illness never over."

Liv's face grays. "I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve this nor did your family. You decide what's best for you."

Angela takes Liv's hands in hers. "All I'm saying is don't expect things to fall back into place so soon. I'll be coming back to the regular rink, I'll be coaching and helping out this off-season. I've already met with and called many of my other students. It's just that, don't be surprised if I don't show up one day, alright? Which is probably going to be very often."

"I understand. So, I'll be coming back to the old rink again."

"Aaannnnndddddd," Angela adds. "I'll 100% be going as your coach to any competitions you have next season!"

"Great stuff! If I get into any competitions next season," Liv rolls her eyes.

Yakov takes out his phone from his pocket and walks up to Liv. "Actually, I think you have. Please check the media more often from now, ok?"

Liv looks at the phone's screen held up by Yakov, along with Angela and Victor. He summarizes the list they see on screen. "Liv, looks like the RSU sees something in you. You're invited to the Rostelecom. And your home country's invited you to Skate America. Good job."

"I. Don't. Believe. This." Liv states.

"You don't believe it in a 'good way' or 'bad way?'" Victor asks.

"Both!" She throws her arms up in the air. "But, for the sake of this happy moment. I'll believe this is a happy thing. AHHH!"

Angela gives Liv a congratulations hug. "See? Things are finally starting to look up! It's time to introduce yourself to the world this coming season as a new and fresh start."

"With you by my side! This is awesome!" Liv squeals.

"Oh yeah, and one more thing," Angela walks up to Yakov and Victor. She shakes both of their hands. "Thank you so much for your help. Last season has definitely been one of Liv's better seasons. I can't thank you enough!"

"I enjoyed helping, just being with her in general," Victor says. "Her jumping height has improved a lot. Check it out when you're back at your rink."

"Fixed most of the underrotating, just have to keep it consistent," Yakov adds.

"Plyometrics and harnesses really help!" Liv gives a thumbs up.

Angela checks her phone to see the time. "Alright, I have to go soon for a pelvic exam. But before I do, Victor, for the days I can't make it to my rink, are you able to work with Liv? I mean this way, every day won't go to waste."

"Delighted to. Here's a promise, by the end of summer, there'll be another addition of a clean triple axel to the history of ladies' figure skating!"

Yakov and Liv nearly choke on their own saliva, but Angela seems intrigued by this. "I'll see by the end of summer. Got to go! Livvy, so good to see you! I'll see you again at the rink! Bye!"

"Bye!" All three of them wave as Angela runs down to the bus stop around the corner of the block.

As soon as she's out of sight, Yakov and Liv turn on Victor. "Triple axel!? Aren't you pushing the limits a bit too far, Victor!?" Yakov shouts.

"Let's just take this step-by-step, ok?" Liv suggests. "I just want to increase my height on all my other triples, triple lutz especially. We can worry about triple axel when I stop receiving under-rotation deductions."

Victor tries to calm the situation. "I'm just saying that it's a possibility. You're already a fast rotator in the air, Liv, even at your previous height, you still manage to sort of squeeze three rotations in! Imagine that speed of rotations at a higher height! You see what I mean?"

"Easier said than done, to be honest. But I see what you mean," Liv admits.

Yakov sticks out his index finger at Victor. "Just keep in mind that Angela's back and you can't do anything that conflicts with what she has in store for Liv, her official student. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Victor salutes.

"Then have a great rest of the afternoon!" Yakov walks towards his car and drives out from the parking lot.

Victor and Liv took a moment of silence to contemplate everything that had just happened. Finally, they're back on track!

"Amusement park?" Victor asks.

"Amusement park." Liv nods.

* * *

 **We are nearing the end of this backstory! *Gives myself a pat on the back. Soon, I'll be continuing this story in the present timeline, centering around Yuri and the interactions he has with Victor and other significant people in his life, including some new ones to will appear. The goal of this story is the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics! Stay tuned!**

 **Thanks for reading! Please FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW!**


	25. That Fateful Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fic. Enjoy!**

 **Yo, what's up, everyone! Welcome back to school! Hope everyone's having a great September! Unlike me...just kidding! It's been going pretty well other than my calculus course (well that's to be expected), but I'm racking up some more community service stuff since I barely did anything during my previous year. And I'm going to need it if I want a chance at getting ANY GOOD scholarship!**

 **Why can't there be a scholarship for writing fanfiction? I'd gladly apply to that! Though I don't know my chances of receiving one...oh well, maybe I should just stick to grades! (If calculus doesn't drag my ass down).**

 **Bah! Whatever, I've been working on this chapter for some time over the past few weeks. I barely have any spare time now, and I'll have even less come the time for university applications. But at least I'm nearing the end of the backstory section of this fanfic. Next chapter is the last section of the backstory, and from there on. It's all in the present, with Yuri being the main protagonist!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Please FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW! Or else I'll forget about this fanfic and just focus on improving my calculus grade! (Not joking)**

* * *

 **Ch. 23: That fateful day…**

 _Present time. Victor's home._

Yuri wakes up in the arms of someone warm and soft. Victor's arms. They were squeezed together on the couch of Victor's living room, still in their clothes and still groggy from last night.

Last night…last night is awesome! Yuri smiles at the lingering memories still clear in his head from last night. Absolutely the best time of his life! Even better than the night when he won silver at the Barcelona GPF. Or the night when they slept together for the first time during the 2016 NHK Trophy.

Oh, last night beat the pants off of any moment Yuri used to consider 'the best moment of his life.' Yuri suddenly feels himself being pulled in closer by Victor, burying his head into his chest.

It feels so cozy. The warmth of Victor's body emitted from the soft cotton sweater he's wearing. And it smells like cocoa! And he has a sudden need to go to the bathroom…

He tries to pry himself free from Victor's grasp, but he is holding on tighter than he suspected! After several failed attempts, he finally uses force to push himself out of Victor's arms…and off the couch too.

"Oof!" Yuri lands on his back with a thud, waking Victor up immediately.

"Huh!? I'm awake! I'm awake!" Victor looks down at the side of the couch. "Oh, Yuri! Did I push you off by accident? I'm sorry!"

Victor helps Yuri back up to his feet and rubs the back of his head. Yuri feels slightly lightheaded at first but quickly recovers. "I'm fine. I pushed myself off because I needed to use the toilet. But you wouldn't let go."

"How could I let go?" Victor crosses his arms. "After last night, the last thing I want, is you being five feet away from my grasp! Never letting go!"

Yuri rolls his eyes and makes his way towards the bathroom. "You're gonna have to whenever either of us need the toiletries."

"Then we'll make the toilet right next to the bathroom door in our future home so I won't have to let go!" Victor declares.

After Yuri finishes his business in the bathroom and the two of them finish up the remaining takeout leftovers from Victor's mom, they slump on the living room couch again. Lying on their stomachs and contemplating on the events of the past few days.

Things had been moving by so fast! It went from a nervous first meeting after a big argument, to a long session of storytelling, to coming to Victor's home for the first time, to meeting Victor's overenthusiastic mom and understanding dad, to his even more unique bunch of rinkmates, and of course, learning more about Olivia Nguyen, aka Liv.

It's been a hectic visit. And to think. This all started back in the Barcelona Grand Prix Final after banquet, thanks to a game of 20 questions! That was when Victor first hinted at having a troubled but serious relationship with someone other than Yuri. This caused Yuri and Yurio to begin investigating deeper into the mystery person that was Victor's old flame.

And then came the revelation of the golden ring hanging on the chain around Victor's neck. That was when Yuri knew that this person, whoever he/she was, is not gone from Victor's life. That Yuri's competing for Victor's affections, and that was a competition he will not lose in! Then Yurio discovers the mystery person is Olivia Nguyen, senior figure skater, currently ranked fourth in the world standings of ladies' singles.

But when he attempts to confront Victor about it, he lashes out and snaps at him. Clearly hurt by the mere mention of Olivia Nguyen's name, which confirms Yuri's thoughts on Victor not being able to let go of that relationship with her. But Yuri is not ready to give up in what he has with Victor.

Thanks to friends and family, Yuri finds the courage to fight for this special relationship he has with Victor. So he flies to St. Petersburg, Russia right after Christmas day, with one goal in mind, to reach out to Victor again, and resume what they had before.

And just last night, the two of them just confessed to each other, their true feelings. Their love for one another. The tear in their relationship is definitely mended by now, and stronger than ever!

Victor gets up from the couch and sits in the chair across from there. "Yuri, I've booked my flight for tomorrow. That's fine with you, right? You have a round-ticket, that's the day you're going back."

"Yeah. You've been prepared for quite some time, I see." Yuri admires before quickly cutting to the chase. "Now tell me. You did tell your parents to book the same flight too, right?"

Victor breathes in, thinking hard about what he wants to say while pursing his lips and squeezing his fists. Yuri calmly waits for an answer while resting his head on a throw pillow. Victor sighs.

"They've suspected long before I told them. In fact, my mom kind of already prepared the day she brought you and me to my childhood family home. There would be no point in telling them to book a flight, they got their tickets before I got mine."

"Great!" Yuri smiles but then catches sight of Victor's slightly sulking face. "I'll call my parents ahead of time and tell them to hide the alcohol once we get home. Feel more relaxed?"

"They're going to forget when the clock strikes twelve on New Year's Eve. Then everyone's resolution will be 'I want to rebuild the Hasetsu Inn,' 'I want to rebuild the Hasetsu Inn,' 'I want to rewind time and smash that wine glass from Nicole Nikiforov's hand!' Blah blah blah!"

Yuri breaks into a fit of laughter when Victor says how everyone's resolution will be about 'rebuilding the inn,' he seriously doubts anything that violent will happen. Sure, things will be a little crazy with Nicole around to spice it up. But not so crazy that his entire family's inn comes crashing down around them…

 _Ding! Dong!_

Yuri is about to get up when Victor pushes him back down onto the couch and makes a beeline for the door. First thing he does is peek through the peephole. The next second, Victor runs at a breakneck speed towards his bedroom, leaving Yuri confused and curious.

"Victor, hon! I know you're in there! I know sweet Yuri's in there too! Come on, open up!" Nicole's voice sang in a melodic voice that is traced with hints of threat.

The doorbell rings again and this time, Victor's dad, Kostner speaks. "Don't be afraid, Victor! The sooner you open this door, the less likely you'll be facing a screaming banshee! I don't think even Yuri will want that!"

Victor's voice emerges from the closed bedroom door. "WAIT! I'm changing! Yuri's in the shower, and I'm looking for clothes!"

"Clothes!?" Nicole shrieks. "What time were you going on 'til last night? You should've been changing about an hour earlier!"

Yuri feels himself smile and grows red from Nicole's assumption and Victor groans loudly from his bedroom. Nicole humphs behind the front door. "And I don't hear the running waters of a shower. Yuri's right out in the living room, right? Yuri, angel! Care to let your future parents in?"

This is too entertaining to not laugh at. Unable to conceal his presence any longer, Yuri walks up to the front door and unlocks it for Victor's parents. His eyes nearly bugged out when he saw what they were carrying behind them.

Nicole catches sight of his stare. "Yep! We're all packed and ready to go tomorrow. Hope all of this luggage will be enough for one visit to your home!"

"It would be enough for one whole year…" Yuri stutters.

"Oh, angel! Did you think I packed all of _my_ stuff in there?" Nicole laughs as she one-handedly hoists her giant suitcase and enters the apartment, Kostner follows behind and gives Yuri a friendly pat on the shoulder before locking the door behind them.

Nicole places her suitcase on its side and pats the top of its bulging surface. "Half of the stuff in here are gifts for you folks!"

"She's been at every single store there is from here to Moscow," Kostner whispers to Yuri. "Never date women, Yuri. You are a smart, smart man. Congratulations."

Just then, the door to Victor's bedroom flew open and hits the doorstop with a _thud_! But the first thing they saw come out from the door is not Victor. Instead, a giant red suitcase came rolling out into the hallway. It was barely zipped up and had uneven bulges all over its sides as a result of unorganized sorting. Several pieces of clothing were hanging out, threatening to fall onto the ground at any point.

Yuri now understands why Victor rushed to his bedroom the moment he saw his parents at the door. He didn't prepare his travel bags and if his mom were to find out…well then, he's in for a hell of a scolding. But looking at how well he's packed his stuff…looks like a scolding is unavoidable.

Nicole covers her mouth at the sight of the messy suitcase and the person pushing it out towards her. Victor presents himself before the three of them and sits down on top of his suitcase, trying to keep the bulges at a minimum.

"Morning, folks. You have a nice breakfast?" Victor asks, trying to get his parents' attention off of the messy suitcase. "Did you walk by the waterfront park last night? The fireworks display was amazing! Yuri and I went there, tell them how awesome it was!"

Before Yuri could open his mouth, Nicole pushes Victor off his suitcase and unzips it for all to see. All of the contents nearly exploded in her face. The inside of the suitcase looked like it was ransacked by a miniature tornado! Without saying a word, Nicole begins taking several items out and refold them.

Seeing how quiet his mom is being, Victor decides to kneel down next to her and help out in reorganizing the entire suitcase. It took less than a minute before everything was finally properly organized. Victor did the honours of zipping it up, this time, properly.

Kostner finally breaks the silence. "Well, that was some decent mom and son time you two. Now, let's move on."

"What do you mean 'move on?'" Victor cries. "What on Earth are you two doing here? And with all of your luggage? The flight's tomorrow! Or am I wrong?"

Nicole pulls Victor in from behind, teasingly embracing him. "Is it so wrong to come and spend more time with my two favourite skaters? 'Sides, this way, we can all leave bright and early sharp tomorrow. No need for confusion and wasting time finding each other at the airport."

"It's very nice to see you guys again," Yuri says, trying to get Victor to appreciate the light of this moment. "Are you planning on staying here all day?"

"Nope!" Nicole declares. "But don't worry, no shopping sprees today, Yuri! I saw how you fell asleep from tiredness last time. This time, we'll just drive. Take you on a bigger tour than you've been on foot!"

Yuri smiles enthusiastically at Nicole. "Thanks for all of this, I honestly don't think I've ever met any people more hospitable than you two. It's been a fun time staying here. It really has."

Victor winks at Yuri knowingly who winks back at him. Nicole gets up from the ground and yawns. The sunlight from the window bounces off of her gold ring, partially blinding Yuri. Which at the same time, reminds him of something…

"Say, Nicole. Mind if I ask where you got that ring?"

Nicole looks at her ring suddenly to see what's so special about it to have got the attention of Yuri. "You're asking the wrong person!"

Kostner steps up next to Yuri. "It's a rose gold wedding band. Not quite as extravagant as the engagement ring though, with all its emeralds and diamonds, now _that_ nearly broke my whole family! But worth it!"

"Mmhmm," Nicole smirks. "By the way, Yuri angel, why are you asking about this? You don't mean…"

Yuri and Victor both nod strongly. "Don't know when yet, but it's definitely a yes!" Yuri explains.

"That's the most enthusiastic I've seen you be yet! Looks like I'm a good influence on you. Just imagine how much you'll change by spending the rest of your life with me!" Victor daydreams.

Nicole jumps up with joy and does a little twirl before wrapping all of them together in a big group hug. "That's great! We'll be one big happy family!"

"Just like the tv shows!" Victor adds.

"Yeah…" Kostner nervously agrees. "So, will I be expecting any grandchildren?"

That question caused everyone to go silent. And awkward kind of silent. That was broken by the joyous voice of Victor. "We'll be adopting an entire orphanage!"

"Huh? W—wait!" Yuri forces him out of the group hug to get some air and think about what was just said.

"What a great idea!" Nicole agrees, taking Victor's hands in hers.

By then, mother and son were deeply immersed in their conversation about how to raise an entire orphanage of children and how many beds they're planning to buy. Yuri's protests were practically nonexistent to them.

Kostner carefully pulls Yuri back and towards the front door of the apartment, leaving the two silver-haired people to ramble on. He quietly unlocks the door and leads Yuri out into the quiet hall.

"Let them be for now, ok? It'll be over soon." Kostner assures.

"But what if they remember again later?" Yuri asks worriedly.

"Ah. They'll probably forget until the wedding day. No sweat! Besides, I was only teasing back there! I should've known better to keep my mouth shut. But Yuri, seriously, it's partially your choice too to raise a kid. Don't feel like you have to go along because it's the 'way married couples have to do.' Discuss it with Victor, ok?"

Yuri nods. "Of course, I will. Honestly, I really don't know. I don't want to make a mistake or anything."

* * *

 _Aug. 2014. St. Petersburg Rink_.

Victor redoes his step sequence again of his new free program for the upcoming season. Ever since the ISU's released the new rule stating that vocal songs are now allowed, Victor's music gallery has grown exponentially!

Along with everyone else's. Nearly all of his rinkmates took advantage of this new rule and began choosing songs that were always personal favourites of theirs for a long time, but were never allowed to use. Well, not anymore!

As for Victor, after days of searching and deciding and confronting Yakov, and some more confronting Yakov and some more…he's finally landed on his choice his the free skate song.

 _Stay close to me_ , that was the one that stood out most to him. And it was also the one that Yakov found appealing to watch him skate to, which was probably the deciding factor for this song in the end.

Victor messes around with his order of turns in the sequence, changing the pattern around to see what works best. Practice is already over about 15 minutes ago, it's just him alone on the rink. Waiting for his student/promiseé to arrive.

Angela had to go for another checkup at her doctor's place, so just as promised, Victor takes over for her. And it's been going very smoothly for more than a month!

Victor starts from the beginning of his step sequence and performs his newest version of it from start to finish. It was difficult to layout the timing without the music, but not impossible.

The door to the rink opens and in walks the person he was waiting for. Liv makes her way down the stairs, not saying a word as she sees Victor in the middle of practicing. She waits until he's ended the sequence.

"Whoo! Nice! I haven't seen that before, is it your free or short?"

"Free. Ugh, I'm still in the middle of finishing it up, but I just can't seem to stick to one pattern for this step sequence! It's like I'm always changing my mind the day after! It's ridiculous! I should have my program mastered by now!"

"Then film yourself or draw it out, stop complaining and do something about it!" Liv suggests as she goes to the changeroom. She later emerges, ready to go onto the ice.

Circling around the rink with crossovers and turns, Liv gets a feel of the ice before moving on to the actual lesson. Victor waits patiently by one end of the rink until she's finished.

Liv ends the warm up with a quick triple salchow. Victor eyed the distance between the tips of her toepick to the ice below, it was a great improvement. They've been really striving towards height this time.

He nods in approval as she skates over, cheeks flushed and slightly breathless. "What's the goal?"

Victor skates around to get his train of thought working. "The gold of course. But to work towards it, we're going to need to be more technical and break things down. Time to be more theoretical and less imaginative. You already got your program songs picked, right?"

" _River flows in you_ for the short, and _Shadow of Love_ for the free," Liv confirms. "All planned and practiced and memorized. Ready for revisions."

"Great!" Victor exclaims. "Then we can focus more on the first major step towards the gold. A clean triple axel under your belt. You've really improved on that height. Not joking, anyone who's not blind can see it."

"I just found my comfort zone in the timing of pulling in right after using so much force in launching myself up." A loose strand of hair falls in front of her eyes.

"Mmhmm. And you've even gotten your triple lutz/triple toe consistently _fully_ rotated!" Victor tucks the loose strand of hair behind her ear before skating towards the open ice. "And hopefully, by the end of this month. We'll have you be able to do _this_!"

He steps into the front entrance of the jump with great speed. The height and air position of the triple axel is flawless, all the way to the clean and steady landing. Liv nervously purses her lips at the sight of the oh-so-near perfect example.

Victor skates over to the sidelines to get something on the bleachers. The harness. "But of course, we'll be using this to start us off!"

He skates over and straps Liv into the jumping device. After double checking to make sure everything is tight and in place. Liv begins the entrance to the jump with fast forward crossovers, transitioning into backward crossovers. Victor keeps up with her speed, being careful not to get too close.

Liv glides on her right back outside edge and steps forward into the jump. _Snap!_ Victor lifts the pole a tad bit as soon as she leaves the ice, giving some more elevation, and thus, more time for her to complete a full three and a half rotations before landing on the ice.

"You got it!" He cries. "Everything is paying is off! It's working! You're so close, Liv. We just need to push it a bit harder!"

"Then let's push it a bit harder…"

The rest of the practice is spent with a continuous repetition of jumping, reviewing on the tape recorder, lecturing and advice giving, then jumping again. And it repeats over and over and over…

The same thing happens for the next few weeks of August. Each practice ends in a bucketful of sweat and knees full of ugly bruises. There were times when Liv just had enough of the constant failures.

It was always during those times that Liv's resilience is put to the limit and Victor's ability to be a supportive figure is tested on. Which he's doing a good job of.

Always focusing on what's at hand, separating the imagination from reality, and planning for each practice. One week, Angela herself called Victor to thank him for bringing Liv's skating to the next level. And making her life here more enjoyable.

Day after day, failure after failure, Liv's wall of strength is slowly cracking, her determination refuses to let it fall down. With every fall, she gets back up. With every two foot landing, she goes through the jump in slow motion. With every pop, she takes a break from jumping and works on other elements.

And throughout it all, Victor oversees everything. Her mistakes and almost successes. It's subtle, but he can see the tiny improvements she's making day by day. Until one day…

* * *

 _Aug. 31, 2014. St. Petersburg Arena._

The early morning sun shines in from the window of the Forhan arena, making a sudden flash of light reflected from the surface of the ice, where Liv skates on. The only skater on the ice.

From the change rooms, emerged Victor, half asleep, half awake, carrying his bag towards the sidelines of the rink, watching as Liv warms up.

She takes a backward turn and builds speed towards the entrance of the triple axel jump. Victor reaches the sidelines and yawns, just as Liv departs from the ice.

Her leg springs up, followed by her arms, pulling her body to maximum height before pulling in tight. Her face tenses in concentration as she begins rotating.

 _One…two…three…_

Victor's yawning comes to a stop and his eyes open wide as he witnesses the life-changing event flash before his eyes.

… _and a half._

Liv lands on her right toepick and unwraps herself from the backspin position into a relatively strong landing. Her blade wobbled a bit on the edge, but she kept her core strength up and didn't fall.

Victor drops his skating bag as Liv slides to her knees on the ice, pounding her fists against the hard cold surface. Victor nearly threw himself over the boards.

Liv falls back on the ice, one fist up in the air. "YES! YES! DID ANYONE SEE THAT!?"

"WITNESS RIGHT HERE!" Victor shouts at the top of his lungs.

Liv skates over to the exit of the rink and runs to Victor with ecstasy. He accepts her enthusiastic embrace and twirls around, equally ecstatic.

"You did it! You fucking nailed it!" Victor cries.

"I know, I know, I know, I can't believe!" Liv holds her head to calm herself.

"All that blood, sweat, tears, and the mountain of cursing have finally paid off! See? What'd I tell you?"

"That I'd be able to land it?"

"That you'd be able to land it and do it again! Right?" Victor asks excitedly.

Liv loses some of her enthusiasm and laughs nervously. "The next step is consistency…"

"Lucky for you, that's your specialty," Victor reminds.

Liv shrugs. "I guess."

"Ah, come here!" Victor opens his arms and embraces her again.

The two of them just stood there, hugging, for a minute or two. Nothing else mattered but the fact that Liv just landed her first ever, _clean_ triple axel.

Only time would tell what happened next.

* * *

 _Present time._

It is the morning of the day when Yuri would return home. But Yuri couldn't sleep. His insides are too tangled up to allow him to sleep. So instead, he decides to go to the kitchen for a drink of cold water. At 3 o'clock in the morning.

And surprise. In the kitchen, sat a disheveled Victor. His head resting on his arms at the center island, and he seems to be listening to some music on his cell phone with earbuds on. Yuri carefully approaches him from behind.

He places a hand on Victor's back, nearly causing him to fall off the island chair. Victor removes his earbuds and turns around to look at Yuri, his expression calms and he embraces him while still sitting down.

"You're up early," Victor whispers.

"You were up earlier," Yuri counters. "What were you doing?"

Victor tucks his phone and earbuds away in his pocket. "Just listening to some tunes. I couldn't really sleep. Too much stuff going around in my head, and stomach."

Yuri walks over to the counter to get himself some water before returning to the island. "I see. Same thing here. Can I hear some tunes too? Music may be the only cure right now for this kind of anxiety."

Victor takes out his phone and unlocks it for Yuri before handing him his earbuds. "Works better if you listen by yourself. Let yourself fall into the endless universe."

Yuri scans through the playlists and songs on Victor's phone. It was an endless list of tracks! There were playlists for movie scores, orchestral renditions, video game osts, piano, violin, or even accordion covers, YouTube singing covers, skating program songs from the past, a favourites playlist, and so much more!

As if Victor wasn't open-minded enough, even his musical tastes reflect his personality! Unable to choose a single song, Yuri goes into the _Favourites_ playlist. The first thing that catches his eye is his 2015 free skate song, _Yuri On Ice._

He feels himself smile upon seeing that song as warm memories come up. Scrolling downwards, he sees other songs such as _Sentimental Waltz_ , _Numb, His Theme, To Zanarkand, Last One Standing, Inspiration, Children,_ and _Shadow of Love._

Suddenly, Victor stands up from the island. Yuri clicks on _Shadow of Love._ The gentle ballad-like piano introduction begins, followed by a beautiful female Japanese voice. Olivia Lufkin.

"You know, music isn't the only cure for this kind of anxiety," Victor says. He walks up to Yuri and takes his hand, leading him front foyer. "Come on."

The next minute, Victor has Yuri in his winter jacket and boots and out the front door. They walked down to the parking lot, the outside city is as silent as ever in the early morning. The sky still dark as if it was still the middle of the night.

Victor leads Yuri to his car and the two of them drive off into the empty road. Bright orange streetlights being the only guide they have besides the moon, they went down the suburbs of the city and towards the route Victor usually takes when he goes to the rink…

Yuri soon realizes where they were going. They left the suburbs and enter the more forested region with the smaller road. The road that Yakov took him to meet Victor at the outdoor rink. A few seconds later, that very rink shows up in front of them and Victor steps on the brakes.

They park on the side of the road since no one else is around. Victor steps out into the cold but gentle environment, Yuri follows close behind, being careful not to step on any black ice as they made their way up to the outdoor rink.

Yuri rests his arms on the boards of the rink, sighing. "You first me—"

"No matter how early, fresh air always helps, doesn't it?" Victor accidentally interrupts. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"Ahem. You first met Liv here. I can only imagine how her imitation of Yakov's _Sentimental Waltz_ performance looked like. Must be good, to get you to put on the brakes and step out to clap."

"And your imitation of my performance got me on a plane and fly across the Pacific Ocean to take you under my tutelage."

"And I'm flattered," Yuri says proudly. "It's like a dream come true, a storybook ending. All in all, I don't think I could ever forget the day I ran to the springs and found you sitting there with that towel on your head…and everything else that happened."

Victor laughs at the 'everything else that happened' remark. _But then again, maybe he was a bit too forward with his first personal meeting with Yuri…but then again, he thought that Yuri remembered that amazing night of dancing at the banquet!_

"Oh, Yuri. You're just too precious." Victor wraps an arm around him. "You're never going to leave, are you?"

Yuri blinks in confusion. "Why? We practically confessed and confirmed our relationship! Why would I ever leave you?"

Victor looks at him with serious eyes. "No matter how hurt you get. You'll also keep in touch right…? No matter how serious the injury… "

"Victor…"

Suddenly a giant light bulb flashes above Yuri's head. The memory of that day when he and Victor had that argument. The day before that, when Victor tried to talk Yuri out of competing after his hip has sort of healed. Because he was scared Yuri would hurt himself again. Because he was scared Yuri would never be able to skate again.

Though the sky is dark, Yuri could see the faint glimmering of tears in Victor's eyes. Victor blinks several times to get rid of them before speaking.

"That day when you fell at the Grand Prix Final and couldn't get back up…I remembered that fateful day with Liv. It was all too similar, yet so different. It hurted. It hurt so much."

Yuri puts both his arms around Victor to support him. It feels different, usually, it's the other way around. But not this time. "Tell me, Victor. What happened that day?"

"I pushed her too hard, just like I pushed you too hard. You got lucky, it was only a hip subluxation, and all I wanted is to prevent you from getting hurt again. Could've been much worse. But Liv…oh god…"

* * *

 _Sept. 21, 2014. St. Petersburg Arena._

The competitive season has begun. And soon, they'll be leaving for their events of the Grand Prix Series. By now, Victor's finally put his foot down and settled on a single pattern for his free skate footwork sequence. Got it mastered and memorized, and ready to go for the first competitions to come.

Victor is overlooking Liv's program run-through today. More specifically, her short program to a strings and piano rendition of _River Flows in You._ She's been landing triple axels every now and then for the past few weeks. It's been going pretty smooth, she's just not brave enough to insert them into her program.

Well, not until recently, with Victor going through hours of lecturing and convincing and pushing until she decides to finally give in. Today, she's going to attempt to insert the triple axel in her run-through.

The beautiful chorus enters as Liv changes foot in her combination spin, pulling her blade up behind her in a lovely catch-foot camel variation. Then, a short pause bridges the gap between the chorus and the new verse.

 _Yiruma's a genius_ thought Victor as he watches from the top of the second level of bleachers. This piano solo twisted with a strings variation is truly a masterpiece. And Liv brings it more glory on the ice.

The long footwork sequence matches the tempo of the familiar piano verse with a bit of variation here and there, performed in time with every step and turn Liv makes. Her arms and body flourish the movements of her legs.

She ends the sequence with a near-split spiral that leads into a strong triple flip jump. Nice and high, no underrotations or anything that makes it look cheated. Anybody with a good eye can see that she's clearly improved. It's objectively true!

Victor begins walking down towards the sidelines as the music prepares to enter the chorus again, Liv builds up along with it, her steps become more jumpy and powered, her speed increases. She's preparing for the last jump of her short program. Triple axel.

" _Triple axel," Victor stresses out each syllable. "Even an attempt is better than none at all! Trust me, you've been landing them recently. Insert it and work on it! Take risks!"_

" _Ok."_

The music builds up in intensity as Liv glides on her right-back outside edge, preparing to enter the triple axel. She is nearing the boards with each passing second before finally placing her left skate down and bending really deeply into her knee and squeezing her fists tightly.

Victor clenches his teeth as he watches history being made before him. The piano plays the first note of the chorus at the same time as Liv's skate leaves the ice and she launches herself into the air.

It was as if the world was suddenly set at a faster pace because the next thing that happened, Victor still can't comprehend. All that he knew was the Liv never landed that jump.

In midair, she lost control of her body due to the great amount of force put into the takeoff, keeping everything tight was beyond her control. Combined with the nerves she was keeping down during the time.

She comes crashing down with her skates flat on the ice and her body wide-opened and upright. The power from the jump sends her flying back towards the already very close boards.

The music stops playing, replaced with the sound of hard bone hitting a hard sharp edge. Victor's eyes opened wide as his feelings of excitement and pride quickly turns to horror and despair in less than a millisecond.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" That scream he let out that day barely sounded like him. But it came from him.

Blood. Bright red blood pooled onto the glistening white ice, made even brighter by the fluorescent lights from up above.

* * *

 **Yep, sorry. I'm going to have to end the chapter right here. But you get the gist of it. Leave the rest up to the imagination. We'll see how things turn out! :P**

 **In the meantime, I'll try and apply first aid to my calculus grade while Liv receives first aid from Victor, hopefully (and in the correct way)!**


	26. The Accident

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, just this fanfic.**

 **THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE BACKSTORY!**

 **Hopefully, it all makes sense now of what happened and how Liv's story ties in with the anime series. Alright, from now on, the story will continue from THE PRESENT, from YURI'S POINT OF VIEW! 2018 Olympics here we come!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed up to this point, and hope you'll continue to read on! (Though next chapter might not come until sometime later...I have a lot of projects due this week)**

 **But it will come! And I hope the story will continue to be interesting, if not more interesting!**

 **Feel free to give me any ideas to build this story onwards from here! Ideas like what might happen at Yuri's competitions, any more complications to Yuri and Victor's relationship, maybe some more spotlight on other characters?**

 **DO IT IN THE REVIEWS! Don't forget to FAV and FOLLOW!**

* * *

 **Ch. 24: The Accident**

 _(Flashback to Chapter 5: Fall at the Grand Prix Final)_

" _Victor, watch me. Watch me chase after your 210.14 points."_

 _With that, Yuri leaves the boards and to the center of the ice._

 _The aura around Yuri changed as 'Ballade in G Minor' began._

 _The first combination, triple axel/triple loop was stunning. Followed by another stunning quadruple salchow._

 _Yuri barely had any change in expression on his face before he entered the jumps._

 _The jumps are just transitions that linked together this whole free skate._

 _Competitions should bring out the best and worst in a skater. So if motivation and nerves are used properly, this will bring out the best of him!_

 _Yuri was not a part of this plane of reality anymore. He is in another dimension and is bringing them all in once again._

 _Victor, Yurio, and even Yakov were utterly speechless._

 _Finishing the final combination spin, Yuri prepares himself to go into his last jump._

Liv takes off on the final jump of her short program, the triple axel. She's been landing them a few times in the past week or so. With some convincing and pushing, she decides to finally attempt one in her program run-through.

 _And he changes it from the quadruple salchow to the quadruple lutz!_

 _He waits in his edge before takeoff. Pulling in tight, Yuri realized that he mistimed his takeoff. His body was positioned awkwardly in the air, but he couldn't stop rotating by now._

Victor squeezes his fists as she launches herself into the air. The amount of force and power put into the takeoff is huge. Too huge. Liv, unable to control her body's tightness and upright position mid-air, loses balance and comes crashing down.

 _Attempting to stop the rotation, Yuri opens slightly—just as his toe pick touches the ice again._

 _Yuri felt the back of his blades grab the ice and the shiny white surface rushing towards him._

The flat blades of her skates hit the ice first instead of her toepick, causing her to slip backward and go flying into the top sharp edge of the boards.

 _Bam!_

The next second, the back of her head comes into contact with the edge and hits it with a great amount of force.

 _Pain soars through Yuri's body from his left hip to his head. It was so bad, he could barely improvise a finishing pose._

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!" Victor screams in horror.

The thud echoes throughout the rink, Liv falls down and slides across the ice from the impact.

Barely conscious, whimpering and holding her head in pain. A bright pool of blood forms around her at the same time as Victor rushes onto the ice, desperately trying to assess the situation. His mind becomes hazy and his fingers feel numb as he kneels next to Liv.

"Omigod...omigod...omigod…hold on, Liv. I—I'll get help!"

The doors to the rink suddenly open and in rushes a flustered and panic-stricken Yakov. "I heard a scream. What's going on here—OH MY GOD!"

Yakov comes running down the stairs and onto the ice the minute he sees Liv lying in the increasingly growing pool of blood. He kneels down on the other side of her. "Liv…Liv…are you awake?"

Liv answers with a pained whimper. Victor is barely able to speak coherently. "T—there was an accident. W—where do we keep the first aid stuff!?"

Yakov attempts to put a hand on Liv for comfort but pulls back in fear of making things worse. "I'll go get it, you call EMS! Hurry!"

With that Yakov rushes out of the rink and out into the hall at the same time as Victor retrieves his phone and dials the number for emergency services.

"Hello, what is your emergency?" The clear woman's voice answers across the speaker.

Victor swallows hard and controls his ragged breathing to a minimum. "Hi, um, there's a woman w—with…she uh, hit her head. It looks really bad…and just please send help!"

"Please stay calm, sir. I need you to state your location and name."

His hearing is becoming weak too as he tries hard not to faint over from the situation at hand. He kneels down on the ice again and tries to answer all of the receiver's questions.

Outside in the main hall, Yakov sprints towards the location of the first aid kit and grabs a defibrillator just in case. He nearly drops the kit on his way back due to the shakiness of his fingers.

Halfway there, he passes by the front lobby and sees Mila and Georgi come in from their lunch break. They wave at him, but he shoos them away.

"Go home, practice's canceled for the day!" He shouts as he runs down the hall towards the rink Liv is in.

"What? Why?" Mila asks. "Hey! What's going on?"

"Just leave!"

From the front entrance, more skaters show up from their lunch break, at first looking all smiley and happy until they see the distressed faces of Georgi and Mila. All of them had the 'what's going on?' look plastered on them.

Inside the rink, Victor finishes answering all of the questions and hangs up the phone. Yakov carefully walks over to Liv's side with the first aid kit and opens it up. He takes out a pair of gloves for him and Victor.

"What did EMS say?" He asks.

"They'll be sending an ambulance our way. But one of us has to direct them into this specific rink." Victor explains as he takes out a piece of gauze and unrolls it.

Yakov gently touches one of Liv's fingers to check if she's still conscious. "Liv, are you still there?"

"Mmm…" She weakly groans.

Victor cuts the gauze at one end and folds it before assessing to see where to apply to on her head. "Help's on the way, Liv. Don't worry, we got you. You're going to f—fine."

Yakov prepares another strip of sterile dressing as Victor places the gauze top on the back of Liv's blood-soaked hair. Yakov quickly puts another on top as the first layer becomes completely saturated.

They continue doing this for the next few minutes or so. All the while, waiting for the sound of an ambulance outside.

"Liv?" Victor pats the ice around her. "Hello? Liv?"

"It's freezing in here. That's not good," Yakov assesses. "Where're the paramedics!? We need to get her out!"

"Well, we can't move her!" Victor counters. "She hit her head, there could a spinal injury and we won't even know!"

"Help me…" Liv croaks, her voice barely audible by now. Her right arm drops down, having lost its strength from holding her head.

"Get your jacket! We need to keep her warm until help arrives, treat for shock, you know! Go grab it!" Yakov nods towards the bleachers where Victor's warm-up jacket lies.

Almost immediately, Victor goes over to the side and grabs his country's nation warm-up jacket from the sidelines, accidentally pushing Liv's cell phone off the top, hitting the ice with a crack! But he didn't notice and focused on placing the jacket over Liv like a blanket.

The left edges of his jacket get slightly soaked by the blood but that is the least of his worries right now. Yakov takes a longer piece of sterile dressing and tries his best to wrap it around Liv's head.

Suddenly, the sound of an ambulance siren is heard outside. Yakov seems almost relieved.

"Finally!"

He gets up from the ice and runs towards the exit of the rink to guide the paramedics. Victor also stands, but instead of leaving, he opens the second door to the ice surface, making a bigger entry for the paramedics and whatever equipment they'll be carrying.

Liv moans from behind him, he turns back around and kneels in front of her. He eyes the left side of his warm-up jacket, now completely soaked with Liv's blood. Looks like he won't be wearing that to the first event of the Grand Prix Series.

"Hey…" Liv whispers. She tries to move her right hand lying helplessly on the ice. "Hey…"

Victor gently takes her hand, not moving it an inch. "Help is here. It's under control. Anyways, what were you going to say?"

Liv manages a weak smile with half-closed eyes. "How about a visit to Detroit when this mess is all over?"

 _Detroit…the hometown of Liv back in the US. That's where she grew up, her friends and family are, that's where she started her skating career, which led up to this point right now…_

Liv continues speaking as Victor listens attentively. "I'll introduce you to my folks, take you to all my favourite places as a kid, show you my old rink maybe? And perhaps meet some friends of mine, Holly especially…"

Victor lightly laughs. "Why not? After the GPF is over, let's pay a visit there! You tour me around! Everything will be great!"

"Mmmm!" Liv smiles before the doors to the rink bursts open.

In rushed in three paramedics along with Yakov. All of them pushed a large trolley with some kind of flat yellow board on top of it. Victor stands up to make way for the team of first aid experts to enter.

"Is this the location of the victim, sir?"

"This is it!" Yakov confirms.

"I see her! Head trauma definitely. We have the C-collar, right? Great!"

The team consisted of two men and a woman, one of the men pulled the trolley onto the ice with great care. Victor is able to see more items on top it. So many of those supplies were foreign to him.

"What's the victim's name?" One paramedic asks Victor.

"Liv," he answers.

Two of the paramedics rushed in next to Liv, taking out several more supplies from their pockets as the third one behind them lowered the trolley and joined his teammates.

"Are you her husband, sir?" The paramedic asks as he grabs a large box off of the trolley and places it down on the ice.

Victor's mouth became dry. He barely comprehends the question. "Uh, fiancé."

"She have any family members we can contact later?"

Before Victor could answer, Yakov answers the paramedic. "Not here, she's an abroad student, her family's in America. We can contact her guardian."

"Thanks, sir!"

One paramedic waves his hand in front of Liv's eyes, trying to assess her consciousness. "Liv? Liv can you hear me?"

Victor holds his breath for Liv to respond. But she didn't respond. Not even a moan or whimper like before. The paramedic takes note of that.

"No response."

The other paramedic takes hold of Liv's head, preventing it from moving around as they continued to treat her. One takes a visual assess on her breathing and punches her fingers to check for proper circulation.

"Breathing normal. Circulation normal. Patient breathing but unresponsive."

They begin moving at such a fast pace, Victor and Yakov are barely able to keep up with it all!

The paramedics all go in such an orderly fashion at such a rapid pace, it's almost unbelievable watching them at work! They go from checking Liv's pain responsiveness to inserting a large neck brace on her.

"Put the C-collar in place."

"Small head deformity, major bleeding."

"No pain and rigidity. Arms intact."

Eventually, they pulled the trolley closer to Liv's side and took down the large yellow board with several black straps across it.

Two paramedics took Liv by the side and one continues to hold her head. Simultaneously, they roll her over to them and feel for any deformities on her spine.

After a thorough check, they roll her onto the yellow board and adjust her accordingly before quickly and tightly strapping her in.

"We're going to lift you up, Liv, ok? Alright, on three! One, two, three!" The paramedics lift Liv up onto the trolley and buckle the board in place.

Immediately after, the paramedics began rolling the trolley off of the ice, a sickening sound of cracking glass is heard, but nobody paid attention. The paramedics sped up the ramp and out into the hallway towards the entrance. Right behind them, Victor and Yakov ran close by.

They sped through the hallways of the arena all the way to the front door, where the ambulance is parked. Several skaters, coaches, and staff members crowded around as soon as they saw the commotion, trying to see what's going on and who was on top of the trolley.

Yakov waved away at the lot of them, shouting for them to go home. The arena is closed for the day. None of them really listened though, they just kept asking questions and shouting in confusion.

Out in the parking lot, some pedestrians passing by gathered around along with younger skaters being dropped off by their parents. The ambulance was very attention-grabbing.

"Whoa! What happened?"

"Holy shit…"

"Grandpa? What's going on?"

"Turn around Yuratchka, don't look, don't look…"

Yakov quickly commands the head staff to close the arena and get the rink where the accident happened 'cleaned up.' The paramedics board the ambulance as Victor and Yakov got into his car.

The sirens go off again as the vehicle hits the road on a one-way course to the hospital.

* * *

 _Hours later in the emergency room._

Victor sits in the quiet waiting area, resting his forehead against his fists. Yakov paces around, waiting for any updates on Liv's condition. But no one came out yet.

When they first arrived, Victor called Angela who was in the middle of a pelvic examination and told her what happened. Angela took the news better than he expected and promises to come as soon as the exam's done.

That was hours ago, and by now, there is still no sign of her. The only thing that happened during this waiting period was Yakov answering phone calls nonstop from staff members of the rink, skaters, and parents of junior skaters. It was exhilarating.

Victor on the other hand, only got up when he needed to get a drink or use the washroom. Other than that, he sat in his seat, looking anxious and scared.

Finally, the doors flew open and a flustered looking Angela rushed in. Victor stands up to greet her as Yakov's phone rings and he leaves to answer the call.

The two of them hug before Angela asks for a clarification on what happened. "Alright, so, Liv got in an accident this morning? How? And how bad is it?"

"We were just working on her short, and well, she tried to attempt a triple axel near the end, but, uh…"

"How did she hit her head?" Angela demands.

"She flew into the boards. It all happened so fast, even I can't comprehend it. The next thing I know, she's on the ice, bleeding and crying, and then Yakov came in, and yeah the paramedics came later, and now we're here…yeah."

Angela walks away from Victor and turns to the wall, her shoulders quivering and head shaking. "How…why did things have to go so bad? I just got better, and now my student's like this…I should never have made her move here."

Victor tries to comfort the middle-aged woman. "Things were looking up recently. It wasn't all bad. She was invited to two Grand Prix events—"

"And now she'll have to withdraw from them. If the injury's as bad as I imagine it to be," Angela sighs. "Thanks for everything Victor. Tell Yakov thanks too. I'm not feeling too well."

"I understand. You get some rest. I'll wake you up when we get some updates."

* * *

 _Even more hours later…_

"Mr. Feltsman?" A male voice, loud and professional, asked.

On the benches, Yakov suddenly wakes up, also causing Victor wake up next to him. Angela continues to sleep until Victor gently rubs her awake. Yakov stands up and turns around to see the person who asked for him.

A middle-aged man in a white doctor's outfit stood before him. "Are you Mr. Feltsman?"

"Yes, I am."

"I'm Dr. Ieraci, are you in relations with Olivia Nguyen?"

Yakov gestures to Angela behind them, she steps forward. "I'm Angela Raskolov, I'm her closest relation currently, her skating coach. She's not from this country, family's in the United States."

"Oh, alright, then. I can trust you to contact her family as soon as possible?" Dr. Ieraci asks, Angela nods. "Ahem, your student is suffering from an open depressed skull fracture. The operation is currently underway, but we're pretty confident she'll be fine given the proper treatment and recovery. Head injuries like these are common in sports. She's a skater, right?"

"Champion of the Nationals last year," Angela says in a downtoned voice.

Dr. Ieraci smiles. "We'll bring that talent back after a few months or so. In the meantime, Miss Nguyen won't be available tonight, I suggest coming back tomorrow to the ICU. I'm sorry, that's all I can do right now. I have to go now."

Angela rubs her eyes in agony as the doctor leaves the room. Yakov's phone rings once again, but he cancels the call this time. Victor sits back down on the seat, trying to think of some happy times. But that was nearly impossible right now.

 _Depressed skull fracture…did she hit the boards that hard? She needed that amount of speed and power for the triple axel, a jump she didn't want to attempt…but I pushed her to do it. And this happened…_

Angela picks up her purse from the bench and prepares to leave. She turns around to wave at Yakov and Victor. "Thank you, both so much for being there for Liv this morning. I can't thank you enough. Seriously, thank you. You deserve a good night's rest. I'll be leaving now, and I'll call her parents, don't worry. Just go home. Bye."

With that, Angela exits the room, leaving Victor and Yakov standing there, along with several other people, eagerly waiting for updates on their loved ones. Yakov talks first.

"The caretakers back at the rink don't know what to do with your jacket. Is it ok if they throw it away or would you rather keep it?"

Victor gets up to leave as well. "I'll wash it. It's a good jacket, I'm still going to wear it to the Grand Prix."

"Victor, what happened today—"

"Was an accident?" Victor finishes with a pang of guilt and anger pulsing through him. "It depends on how you look at it. It could be just circumstances, it could've been karma, or it was all staged. Liv's consistency was off today maybe? Wasn't the ice properly smoothed? Her skates were dull?"

"She attempted the most difficult jump in ladies figure skating," Yakov pressed as they walked to the outside parking lot. "And failed to land it, no surprise."

Victor stops in front of his car and buries his head against the front trunk of it. "I—I thought she could do it. If she wanted to hard enough, if her heart was in it, I thought she could! I was out of my mind, and both her and Angela knows it too. And so do you."

Yakov stands there, looking at Victor with pitiful eyes, not saying anything to comfort him. That's when Victor knew it, _this coaching thing was a bad idea from the start_.

Victor drives away in tears.

* * *

 _Weeks later._

The first event of Victor's Grand Prix Series, Skate Canada, doesn't start until the end of October. During these past weeks since Liv's accident, Victor's been on a round trip from his home to the rink, to the hospital and back home every day.

Or at least he wishes he is, Yakov's been making him practice overtime again, just like with the Worlds. He could only visit Liv during Fridays and weekends.

If one could still call visiting someone who sleeps all the time while being strapped up to all sorts of instruments and tubes in bed, a 'visit'.

Because that's all Victor's been seeing from Liv every time he goes to see her. While she's sleeping, he's keeping himself entertained by watching the IV drip slowly drain, or observing the carefully wrapped bandages around her head, concealing all of her hair.

He'd always leave something behind, whether it be flowers, cards, books, or even some CDs of composers he knows she loves.

Angela contacted her family, who are highly alarmed by the news and is flying over to Russia immediately. That includes her parents, two older brothers and their wives and children, and her younger sister.

Victor only met them once, they were inside Liv's room, crowding around her and looking insanely concerned. He didn't dare to enter, deciding to give the family some privacy.

Liv's mom wouldn't stop crying and squeezed the hand of her still sleeping daughter. "Oh, my little girl…my little girl…"

It was nearly enough to make Victor breakdown, he left that day and went back to the rink to work on his free skate.

 _Stay close to me_ plays over the speakers as Victor performs his free skate run-through. He puts a lot of conviction and strength in all his elements.

Even from the sidelines, Yakov could see the seriousness on his face. Every jump was done cleanly and with utmost precision. Every turn was sharp and clean. Every spin was rapid and centered.

Today, Victor is bringing out all those qualities that earned him the rank of top skater in the world. He is reminding everyone, including himself, exactly why he is a dangerous competitor.

Nothing will break down his walls, nothing…

Victor ends his free skate with the combination spin and a strong finishing pose, or at least he tried. Right at the very end, he loses composure and falls to his knees.

Yakov quickly takes over to the bleachers before the other skaters ask if he's feeling alright.

"Come, Victor." Yakov hands him a bottled water and sits him down. "You're doing much better now. You'll be fine at Skate Canada, you'll make out to the Final."

"Is it normal to feel this way?" Victor slams the bottle against the boards. "What term do they use…PTSD?"

"Is it really that bad?"

"I…I just can't stop feeling guilty. It's like, it's my fault it all happened. It's haunting me, I can't think, can't sleep, can't do anything properly! Maybe I should just withdraw from—"

 _Splash!_

Cold water hits Victor in the face. He coughs and sputters as he wipes his eyes, and sees Yakov holding a half-empty bottle in front of him. His coach looked like he's about to blow a fuse.

"Wake up, Victor! Look! Is the sun exploding? Is the Earth being sucked into a black hole? No!" Yakov crushes the bottle with one hand. A few of the skaters carefully back away. "Life goes on! So stop fighting the flow!"

Victor will not just sit there and take it this time. "I've never been through something like this! Is this how therapy works?!"

"I'm not your therapist, Victor. I'm your coach. Your skating coach. And so, it's my job to ensure the success of your career. I only wanted what's best for you. I advised against taking Liv as a student. But I gave in because I wanted to be something more than just coach. I wanted to be your friend. And you fooled around hardcore." Yakov no longer looks angry, but rather disappointed.

He takes a few steps back. "I knew from the beginning you had ulterior motives for coaching Liv. I knew your infatuation. I hoped you would go beyond that and actually create something for the skating world to see."

Victor tones down. "Yakov…I didn't fail in that. It was an accident, Liv would've blown away the competition this season with her triple axel—"

"You still don't get it," Yakov looks down in pity. "Liv. Liv and her skating were just tools for you to build your fantasy and turn it into reality. You never loved her or her skating. You loved the possibilities you could do with her."

Victor became speechless. He didn't argue because there's a tiny part of what Yakov said, that is true. As much as he wants to deny it, it's true.

It's like a sudden moment of realization when you finally find out the real reason behind all your actions.

"I wanted to help," Victor's voice is barely audible, but Yakov heard just fine.

"You wanted to see your imaginations come true. And now, reality burst back in. I'm sorry about what happened with Liv, believe me, I can't forget either! But it's not within our control anymore. Come on, Victor. Let's go." Yakov prepares to skate away. "You got half a month before your first event comes up. The season's not slowing down for you, or for anyone."

After a few seconds of sitting on the bench with residues of water still dripping down his face, Victor finally gets up and follows Yakov onto the ice. He's still got a season to skate, and competitions to win.

"Let's do this."

* * *

 _Oct. 21, 2014._

Victor drives down to the hospital straight from his apartment. He was due to leave for Skate Canada tomorrow and haven't visited Liv for quite a few days. He wanted to give a proper goodbye before leaving.

He arrives at the parking lot and rushes up the elevator towards the HDU ward, where Liv's room is. But something seemed off. Victor couldn't pinpoint why, but he feels that something isn't quite right.

And he was correct.

The room where Liv used to be, was now empty. Well, except for the bed and the curtains, and the furniture and equipment, but it was empty of her items, her medications, and herself. A passing nurse sees the confused look on his face.

"Are you looking for the patient who used to reside here?"

"Olivia Nguyen, where is she? Was she relocated, or discharged?"

"Oh, Miss Nguyen? I remember, her family wanted to move her out a few days ago. They got approval from the doctors, and left."

"Left to where?"

"That's confidential, I'm sorry."

"Thanks anyway!"

Victor turns around and ran like a madman back down to his car and drove out of the hospital. His destination: Liv's apartment. All the way there, he nonstop dials Angela's cell phone number, but nobody picked up.

Eventually, he reaches the apartment building and runs up the flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator. His heart pounds fiercely in his chest as he runs down the hall of her floor.

 _Please don't let it be empty, please don't let it be empty!_

Empty. The front door to her apartment is wide open. A single caretaker is inside, sweeping the wooden floors of the empty living room, where her desk and couch used to be.

The imprints of her digital piano are still visible in the dust, and he could still imagine the messy pile of clothes tossed here and there.

Victor feels his breath stuck in his throat as he rips his eyes away from the sight of the empty apartment and walks away.

* * *

 _Dec. 13, 2014. Sochi, Russia. Grand Prix Final - Men's Free Skate._

Victor hears the crowd roar as he takes a standing ovation after a successful and clean free skate with a score of 198.95, his new season's best for now. It's a no-brainer, he's taking the title of 2014 Grand Prix Final champion, just like always.

After emerging from the changerooms, comfortable and fresh, Victor finds lil' Yurio standing by the bottom of the benches and joins him. Yurio has recently won the title of Junior Grand Prix Final champion after a shockingly choked performance by his friend and rinkmate, Mike Dalmer.

And Yurio isn't taking it very well. He feels that it was an unfair win, considering that Mike was rumored to have been diagnosed with bronchitis a few days before the JGPF, but refused to withdraw.

As a result, Mike's performance wasn't as great as it could've been. Yurio wanted to win against Mike in a proper free skate. And ever since then, Yurio's been in a sour mood with a constant scowl on his face.

The ice is being cleared of any leftover gifts thrown down for Victor, he barely pays attention to those right now. Right now, he has one thing on his mind: to call Liv.

He remembers a few days ago when Angela finally called him and explained everything that happened.

" _Hello, Victor? It's Angela."_

" _Angela? Oh, finally! I've been trying to reach you since October! What happened to you? What happened to Liv?"_

" _First of all, I'm sorry about not answering, I was having complications and went for a surgery. Anyways, so the thing with Liv…"_

" _Yeah? I already know that she and her folks are gone. Her entire apartment's empty, and I can't get anything out of the hospital staff because of confidentiality!"_

" _I know, Victor. I know. So please don't do anything rash, alright? I'm about to tell you what happened with Liv. Her family moved her back to America, she's going to get further treatment there and things'll be easier there for her folks. They're closer to home and they understand the health care system there better."_

 _Victor nearly drops his phone. "She's back in America…? So…that's it? You don't think she's coming back?"_

" _I spoke to her parents, they didn't hide anything. They directly told me they won't encourage her back into competitive figure skating. But it's really up to her in the end, though I highly doubt she'll come back."_

" _I…I see. Ok, thanks, Angela. Bye."_

" _Victor."_

" _Yes?"_

" _It's not your fault."_

 _Victor shakes his head against the receiver, but he knows Angela can't see him anyways. She continues to comfort him. "Call Liv. Her family told me she's awake and in rehab now. Talk to her, clear things up."_

His hands shaking, Victor reaches into his pocket and fishes out his cell phone. It's screen black and cold. The cheering suddenly intensifies as the next skater comes onto the ice. It was the dark-haired and pale-skinned man representing Japan.

 _Yuri Katsuki_ …if he remembered correctly. It was hard forgetting that name after an unnerving short program the night before. Victor has seen stage fright before and knows how bad it can be. But he has never seen stage fright at the level of poor Yuri's.

 _Though, he did have good musicality skills and choreography that blows his mind away! Reminds him of someone he used to know…_

Remembering the task he was going to do, Victor unlocks his phone and opens his contacts list, slowing down once he got to the 'O' part. His thumb trembling, he finally presses the name and phone number of 'Olivia Nguyen.'

Yuri begins his free skate as soon as Victor presses the phone to his ear, waiting for someone to answer. In the meantime, he watches as the skater from Japan performs the first portion of his free skate to _River Flows in You._

It was a long step sequence that absolutely mesmerized Victor. It even widened the eyes of a still sour-looking Yurio. It was beautiful, dynamic but gentle, all in all brilliant. The phone continues to ring, and Yuri prepares to enter his first jump.

The triple axel.

Halfway through the jump in midair, he loses control of his body and opens up, crashing down on the flat of his skates and flying backward…onto his back. Victor feels a burn in his stomach as he witnesses the fall and the audience gasps in reaction to it.

Yuri quickly picks himself up and continues to skate, but without the same beauty and patience from before. Everything became a mess, and Yuri's fragility was exposed. Fall after fall…it became difficult to watch.

On his last jump, the triple toe, Yuri pops it as soon as he takes off and then falls.

" _We're sorry, the number you dialed is unavailable."_

That's it. Victor's stomach flips upside down and he feels extremely lightheaded all of a sudden. Yuri stands as the audience applause him and he goes over to his coach to his scores. Victor barely sees the numbers on the screen before dashing out of the rink and towards the washroom.

Covering his mouth, he bursts into the men's room and runs to the large empty stall at the very end of the room. Emptying the contents of his stomach over the toilet, Victor heaves and cries for an unknown amount of time.

Minutes later…he hears the sound of someone else entering the washroom. The man goes into a stall not too far from his and sits down. He seemed to be calling a family member, his mom apparently from what Victor heard.

"I'm sorry…I messed up…" said the voice of the man from the stall down across.

The quivering in the man's voice is enough to make Victor cry even more. Looks like he's not the only one who's having a bad night. The man in the stall begins to cry. It's as if he's lost all hope.

Victor wonders what happened. But before he could think more, a loud _BAM_ shook the entire washroom from floor to ceiling. It nearly gave him a heart attack! It sounded like someone purposefully kicked one of the doors to the stall.

He hears a stall door open and the voice of Yurio speaking to the man who was supposedly crying. Sitting perfectly still in the corner of his stall, Victor hears how Yurio threatens the poor man to quit competitive skating since 'there's no room for two Yuri's in the division.'

 _So…that poor crying man was Yuri Katsuki…_

After waiting for the washroom to clear, Victor finally emerges from his stall and washes his hands in the sink. He splashes some onto his face as well.

"Yuri Katsuki…so he placed last here eh? First time at a GPF, I guess. But it wasn't all that bad. He has the abilities, he just needs the confidence, and the heart."

Victor walks out of the washroom, feeling, for the first time in a long time, excited.

"He's no Nobuo Adachi, but…that's beautiful potential right there. Can't let it go to waste."

* * *

 **Feels kind of refreshing eh? Going all the way back to the very first episode of this insane anime of 2016! I haven't been watching YOI for the past six months due to all sorts of stressful work coming up (and partly due to the release of Game of Thrones season 7!)**

 **But I do watch a little bit of it now and then for a good recap and the OSTs! (I love the osts in here!)**

 **But I've been watching a lot of real-life skating right now too, I'm looking forward to seeing Satoko Miyahara back in competition after withdrawing from the second half of the season last year! :( And not to mention Katelyn Osmond of Canada! Luv that girl! Not to mention Mirai Nagasu of the US! (Have any other skating fans out there saw her almost-triple-axel from Skate Detroit? So close!)**

 **Oh, and I heard that Evgeni Plushenko (Victor's real-life counterpart apparently) is coaching Adelina Sotnikova. I'd like to see how she'll do. And of course, my precious Yuzuru Hanyu and Javier Fernandez! :D**

 **Alright, I'll stop here. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!**

 **Remember, please give out ideas and suggestions, because I'm kind of brain dead from chemistry homework overload right now! :P**


	27. IMPORTANT POLL! HELP CHOOSE AN ENDING!

**Hi, everyone! WillowForrester here!**

 **I've been thinking a lot lately and I'm in a bit of a tussle. You see, due to my uncontrollable and untamable imagination, I may have come up with FOUR DIFFERENT possible endings for this fic. Hehehehe...**

 **So scrap the original ending I initially made up!**

* * *

 **Here's the gist of these endings:**

 **1) Typical happy and REALLY SATISFYING ending you always see in fanfiction (but with lots of drama building up before it)**

 **2) Typical happy ending but with a small NOT-SO-HAPPY part**

 **3) Ending with a twist and tragedy**

 **4) Submit your own endings to me either in the reviews or via private message. (It's fanfic! The readers have just as much influence in a story as does the author, so if you have an idea you think would be good for an ending, submit it to me!)**

* * *

 **Yeah, so that's it!**

 **Sorry that it isn't a new chapter. I've got more important stuff to worry about right now. So in the meantime, help me plan out the direction of this by choosing one of the four options and post them in the reviews or private message it to me!**

 **PRETTY PLEASE! I NEED AN ENDING SO I CAN PLAN. AND MAKING CHAPTERS WILL BE WAY MORE ORGANIZED!**

 **CHOOSE!**

 **-WillowForrester**


	28. A New Year, A New Start

**Disclaimer: I don't own YOI, just this fanfic. Enjoy!**

 **Hey, hey, hey! Guess who's back after a two-three month break? That's right me! And I present to you: a new chapter! I'm sorry about the long delay in a new chapter, school's been SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER *one million SUPER's crazy stressful for me! If you guys are going through or have gone through grade 12, then you'd understand.**

 **I've been working on this chapter during the microscopic spare time I have. And thanks to my dropping out of a course, I now have a spare, so that means more time to work on this fanfic! (Don't worry, I didn't drop the course purely for fanfiction writing. That would be stupid.)**

 **Anyways, I tried to keep Victuri high and strong in this chapter, because you guys deserve this. Thanks for sticking around.**

 **Please REVIEW, FAV, and FOLLOW! (Only this way, I'll have the motivation to keep working!)**

* * *

 **Ch. 25: A New Year, A New Start**

 _Outdoor Ice Rink._

The clouds in the early morning dark sky parted, revealing the bright moon behind it. Now with a light source, Yuri could easily see his surroundings, including Victor.

He was crying.

If it wasn't for the moon, Yuri wouldn't have been able to tell. Victor wasn't making any noises or sudden movements. He just rested his forehead against his right hand and let the feelings of sadness, guilt, and anger wash over him.

Tears fell onto the top of the rink's sideboards.

So, that was it.

The end of the backstory.

The truth Victor was hiding.

Yuri knew that he should feel complete. Relieved. But instead, he felt empowered. Like he didn't want this story to end. He felt like getting up and doing something.

"Victor."

"What?" Victor whispered through his pain.

"I know you probably heard this a lot, but I'm going to say it again. It's not your fault."

"It was."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was. And everyone knows it. Liv. Yakov. Angela. All of Liv's family. Probably her friends. And you." Victor shakes his head. "It was…"

Yuri sees that telling Victor it wasn't his fault is going to be futile. So he attempts a different approach.

"Alright," Yuri stands next to Victor. "So it was your fault. But it was also you who administered first aid and called EMS. It was you who helped her enter the Olympics. It was you who prepared her for the Nationals. It was you who saved her."

Victor lifted his head a little, opening his mouth to say something.

—"And it was you who saved me." Yuri quickly adds.

He looks at Victor. His eyes filled with gratitude and appreciation like never before. Victor covers his mouth to suppress the gasps.

Yuri turns around to face Victor fully. _His_ fiancé. Victor is speechless. He looked so overwhelmed with emotions that at any moment, he might break down.

"I know you're still afraid, Victor. Afraid that I'll go through the same harsh treatment by the ISU. That I'll be hurt by desperately trying to improve my technical skills—"

"But you are doing it right now!" Victor shouted. "I told you to lay the rest of this season off to let your hip heal completely! But you're still planning to go the Four Continents and Worlds!"

Yuri was taken back. He forgot all about that. Well, not anymore.

"Alright. Then once we go back, I'll withdraw from those events. Promise." Yuri answers with a very final tone. "We'll refine my skills during the summer and I'll be fresh entering next year's Grand Prix Series."

Victor looks slightly relieved to hear this. He calms down and pushes his hair out of his eyes. "Ok, ok. Sounds good. I promise, I'll work with you extra hard this off-season. I won't let you falter. I won't let the ISU deduct you unfairly."

Yuri's eyes turn serious. His fists curled up tightly.

"Fuck. The ISU."

That caught Victor off-guard. But also woke him up. He nodded in agreement. His eyes equally serious.

"Fuck the ISU." He replied.

Yuri steps closers. "Fuck those judges."

"To hell with them."

"Fuck those robots on ice."

"They're all amateurs who think they're so great."

"Fuck all this bullshit. They're things of the past. It's time to move on."

Yuri stops in front of Victor. He takes his hands in his and squeezes them tight. Victor nods gently.

And smiles.

"How did I manage to find someone who knows exactly what to say to me?"

Yuri returns the smile. "It's like what you said, 'things happen because we push life down that path.'"

The two of them stayed quiet for awhile. Just standing there happily with their fingers intertwined and smiles plastered on their faces. Then Victor broke the silence.

"Let's go home."

"Let's go home."

* * *

 _Events of the day_.

After the heartfelt conversation at the side of the outdoor rink, the two men drove back to the apartment to finish up with packing.

Victor's parents were already awake by the time they arrived through the front the door.

"Welcome back!" Nicole exclaims, all dressed and prepared to go. "You didn't go into the red light district during your outing, right?"

"I don't even know where it is in this city," Victor answers calmly.

"Don't lie to me. I know that one of you're rinkmates lives there."

Victor waves his hand before disappearing into his room to get his luggage. "But I don't visit Max!"

Nicole shakes her head before diverting her attention to Yuri. "Yuri-angel! Can you believe it? We're finally going to meet your folks! And in time for the New Years! Isn't this wonderful?!"

"Yeah! I completely agree! It'll be the most lively the inn has been since Christmas!"

From behind them, Kostner appears with a load of suitcases. He stumbles across the hall with them.

"Oh, yeah. It'll be so lively that the entire place might come crashing down."

"Nay!" Victor cried from his room. "Do not jinx it!"

Nicole replies with a laugh and helps out in taking out the luggage. After a quick breakfast and wash-up, Yuri empties the apartment of suitcases with Victor's parents and transferred them down to their car.

The flight they all booked was scheduled to leave sometime before noon, so they should arrive at Yuri's place around the evening.

As soon as Victor managed to get the trunk to his parents car closed, they were all set to leave! Makkachin was put in the back seat of Victor's car all safely tucked and everything.

Yuri double checks to make sure he didn't forget anything in Victor's apartment. Luckily, he didn't. He enters Victor's car and they hit the road, with Kostner and Nicole in their car behind them.

It was an hour before noon once they arrived at the airport, and the smell of the food corner restaurants was more than heavenly!

Lunch was simple and greasy. It was one of the few times Victor didn't complain about Yuri eating fried food. Yuri was shocked to see the huge appetite Nicole harvested upon seeing the size of her food tray.

"I burn it off easily, Yuri-angel. That's how I keep in shape." Nicole quickly answers upon catching his stare.

After they finished eating, it was still rather early, so they decided to split up and look around the shops. Yuri found a beautiful keychain of a glass puppy in one store and immediately buts it.

He runs off to find Victor. After finding him at the food corner again with Makkachin, Yuri presents him with the gift. It was met with a tiny squeak of delight.

Victor instinctively pats Yuri on the head, "Thanks!"

But he then realizes what he just did. And quickly redraws his hand in panic, his face flushed. Yuri felt his own flush as well.

"Uhhh…ah! Sorry!" Victor apologized.

"Haha. Should I start wearing dog sweaters?" Yuri gestures to Makkachinr while stroking his soft fur.

"You should start keeping this happiness up!"

As soon as Victor's parents returned from the stroll, they prepared to enter the plane. All their luggage was safely put away, it was time for them to finally board the plane.

As Yuri sat down in his seat next to the window, he felt a rush of excitement run through him. This morning, he was feeling a little incomplete after the end of the backstory, but now.

Now, he feels complete.

With Victor playing on the tv screen on the back of the seat in front of them, the plane ready to take off to take him back home, his folks finally being able to meet Kostner and Nicole, and Makkachin sleeping soundly in the seat next to Victor.

Yuri felt as if everything is going to be alright. Nothing is bothering him right now. Not even the fact that Olivia Nguyen is still alive and breathing somewhere in this world. Probably even aware of his relationship to Victor.

The flight took a few hours. In the meantime, Yuri watched Victor gradually fall asleep. The early morning outing was finally taking its toll on him. Combined with the time zone difference, it wasn't long before Victor fell completely unconscious.

Yuri also began to feel fatigue take over him soon after. It wasn't too long before he also fell asleep.

"Attention passengers! We are currently landing! I repeat, we are currently landing!"

That woke Yuri up from his good long sleep. But Victor was still going at it. Looking out through the window, Yuri could see traces of the ground and airport below them, partially hidden by white clouds.

Yuri gently shakes Victor awake as the plane descended.

"Huh? We're here?" Victor blinks.

"Yes we are." Yuri replied.

Soon after the plane has landed completely, they all got off and went to retrieve their luggage inside the airport. Nicole couldn't stop photos of everything with her phone.

She constantly nagged Kostner. "Oh, check this out!"

"Omigosh, look at this! You don't see trees like this back home!"

"Gasp! It's that robe I've always wanted! Victor, why didn't you bring me any of this stuff when you attended your competitions here?"

And that went on until they walked down to the bus station, where Yuri guides them to the bus that will take them to the inn.

The bus wasn't too crowded, luckily, probably because they caught one of the later ones, instead of the afternoon one. The sky was darkening as they neared their destination. Lights were slowly lighting up the snowy countryside.

At last, the bus stopped at the station near the inn. Yuri helps Kostner take some of the heavier luggages out of the bus and down the street.

"My place is just a 20 minute walk from here. My folks are already notified of our arrival, we should be able to walk there without tiring too much. Or if you want, I could call my sister."

Nicole waves her hand. "No, no, that's fine! We'll manage, or at least I can manage. How about you, Kostner?"

"I don't what you're talking about, I'm as fit as I was from my college days." Kostner huffed as he walked away awkwardly with a handful of suitcases.

Yuri quickly followed from behind. "Alright then, if everyone's fine with it. That's ok."

The group of four walked down the empty snowy sidewalks of the winding seaside road. The lampposts made the atmosphere seem warm despite the freezing temperatures.

Victor nudges Yuri from the side. "Psst. Did you remind your folks to hide the alcohol?"

Yuri looked confused for a second. Then he remembered the reason behind Victor's question. "Ohhhhh. Yeah, about that. Well, no."

"What?!" Victor half-shouts half-whispers. "Do you even want your inn to stay standing?"

"Aw, come on—Victor—it's not going to be _that_ uncontrollable. Your mom won't bring the place down."

Victor subtly points a finger to his mom walking in front of them while looking at Yuri with a 'I can't believe you,' face.

"That right there, is a bomb, just waiting to explode. The last thing she needs is something fanning her spark. And that's alcohol! So heed my warning, Yuri!"

Yuri sighed in defeat and takes out his phone. "If it makes you feel better, I'll send a message to my folks to tell them to cut down on the wine tonight."

"Good choice, Yuri," says Kostner suddenly.

He was listening in on the conversation from behind them the whole time. Victor fist bumps his dad.

"Agreed."

* * *

 _Several minutes later._

The group of four finally made it to the front doors of Yuri's family inn. They were able to see the colourful lights hanging here and there from down the street.

And now up close, it looked even more lively than it was. The bright golden lights mixed with reds, greens, and purples brought a sense of festivity and warmth to their hearts.

Yuri took three deep breaths before finally opening the doors.

"I'm back!"

"Yuri!" Everyone inside cried in excitement.

They stopped whatever they were doing and rushed to the front lobby to greet and hug Yuri. His parents were the first to hug him, then his sister Mari, then Takeshi and Yuko and their triplets, and of course, Minako.

Right after they acknowledged him, they turned their full attentions to Victor, who was slowly inching behind Yuri for protection, just in case they haven't completely forgiven him yet for hurting their precious Katsudon in the first place.

Luckily, they didn't seem menacing to him. Instead, they immediately switched interests in their newest guests, Victor's parents.

Nicole steps forward, dragging the giant suitcase of presents behind her. "Hi, so nice to meet you all! I'm Victor's mom, Nicole!"

"You're his mom?" Yuri's father cried in shock. "I thought you were his older sister for a second there!"

Nicole laughs like a humble movie star. "Ah, stop it. I already that a lot from my patients."

Kostner cuts in before Nicole could talk again, taking this small window as a chance for him to introduce himself too.

"I'm Kostner, her husband and his dad," Kostner quickly says in a friendly tone while giving everyone a fast handshake. "It's really a pleasure seeing you all here, especially during this time of year. I'm glad we can celebrate and get to know each other better. Again, thanks."

"We should be the one saying, thanks," Yuri's mom replied. "Thanks for looking out for Yuri when he was away from home. It means a great deal to us, me especially. Come on in! Let's get this party started!"

Everyone begins chatting amongst each other again, conversations were sparking and going on like crazy between the different families.

Things never felt so restless under the roof of this building before. Everything was out of order. Nothing was in place. And that was okay.

Everybody was enjoying themselves to the fullest. The food was being served on any flat surface that could be used as table. Drinks were readily placed in the fridge, so whoever's thirsty can take do as they please from the options available.

The triplets were crowding around Nicole as she chatted with Yuko and Minako, constantly asking her about the details of Victor's life, how he was when he was little, personal interests, and more.

Kostner sought refuge in the game room with the rest of the males of the household, where they whipped out a deck of cards and started an intense game of president.

Laughter erupted here and there at the end of every sentence in a conversation. It was so loud, Yuri just _had_ to retreat to his room to rest his ears.

Shutting the door behind him, he slid to the ground, exhausted.

Even through closed doors, Yuri could still hear the noise coming from the party and the vibrations on the door from it.

 _Knock, knock._

"Can I come in?" Victor asks.

"Wait." Yuri stands up and opens the door for Victor.

He stumbles inside and slumps onto Yuri's comforter, looking even more exhausted than Yuri. He exhaled loudly against the soft bedding.

"Home sweet home…"

Yuri walks up next to him. "You mean _my_ home sweet home."

"Which is basically my home too," Victor mumbles.

"Haha. For now, yeah. Just don't ruin it for yourself. Anything wrong that happens here because of you, I won't hesitate to kick you out."

Victor sits up in the bed, squeezing one of the pillows. "You're so cruel, Yuri. My folks and I came all the way here to see your family. And you'd kick us out so easily?"

Yuri raises a brow. "I said I won't hesitate to kick _you_ out. I never said anything about kicking your parents out along with you."

Victor slowly falls to his side like a dead robot. He remains there for a few seconds before regaining the ability to speak again.

"Then I really hope your folks hid the alcohol, because if they didn't, then something is going to really happen, and I'll really be kicked out."

"Exaggerations." Yuri countered.

"Sleep with me?" Victor quickly asks, perking up again.

"I'm not in the mood," Yuri calmly answers before leaving the bedside and looking out the window of his room.

Outside, the snow was falling from the sky with no wind to blow it all about. It looked a like real winter wonderland out there. Soft, white, and beautiful.

Victor gets up out of the bed, slightly deflated. "Never mind then. I'm going back outside. Feel free to join me when your ears are ready again."

The wooden door slid shut behind him as Victor left the room. Yuri leaves the window and sits down at his desk where he turns his laptop on.

A whole bunch of email and social media notifications bombarded him as soon as his homepage finished loading. Yuri quickly marked all of them as read before slowly going through each one of them to see what's important and what's not.

A new email alert came up. It was from Phichit.

 _Happy New Years, tough guy!_

 _I wish for the best fortune for yours and Victor's relationship. I'm pretty sure you're done fixing and making up (you ARE done, right?)_

 _Anyways, yeah. So I look forward to seeing you at the Four Continents and Worlds! Let's plan to go somewhere there!_

 _And don't you worry about anyone coming between you and Victor. You have the backup of your family, the fan girls, and more importantly, ME._

 _So stop being so afraid of Liv (who isn't even there right now) and put on your big boy pants! Worry more about keeping your relationship going._

 _Happy New Years again!_

 _Phichit_

Yuri smiles and sighs as he read the email. It felt peaceful and nice compared to the rowdiness outside. He might as well reply right now, while he's still in the mood for replying.

 _Hey Phichit,_

 _You're absolutely right. I got back together with Victor. Yes, the process was long and exhilarating, but we're back together._

 _And his parents are over right now at my place for New Years Eve. It's really loud here. I'm afraid that windows will start cracking._

 _Oh, and I won't be attending the FCC or the Worlds. I promised Victor to let my injury heal completely this season. Sorry. You can't have me and Victor together AND have me at competitions._

 _About Liv…I don't think I'm afraid of her anymore. I mean, what happened is something of the past. I'm the current relationship, so I'm going to do what it takes to keep his eyes on me._

 _But damn, I have to admit that I do kind of feel bad for her. After hearing what Victor tell me, I can't help but feel some pity and sympathy. She's been through some shitty experiences._

 _I've been through shitty experiences too, so it's easy to relate._

 _That aside, I have to tell you that I finally know where Victor gets his personality and craziness from. My God, his mom is so much more worse than him! XD._

 _And his dad…is the only sane guy in the family! I feel so bad for him! How did he keep his sanity, living with a wife and son as crazy as the two of them?!_

 _Well, I probably will never found out._

 _But enough about me._

 _How about you? How are things going on in America? Did you meet anyone special yet? Any interesting things happen?_

 _Please tell. I miss talking with you._

 _Happy New Years to you too!_

 _Yuri_

Clicking the 'send' button, Yuri leans back in his chair and stretches. Then, he ambitiously sat up and entered his browser search engine typing in its search bar, 'Olivia Nguyen.'

Yuri's heart still pounded, but not as violently as it was prior to Victor's confession. Images of her at her competitions and standing with a medal around her neck appeared along with several links forums, articles, and pages about her.

It was the same stuff as before when he first searched her up. But this time, he saw it through a different perspective. Every single article that talked about how she was robbed of a medal, Yuri felt pity and anger towards the judges.

Every forum that talked about her possibilities of placing on the podium or winning, Yuri would take sides with the people who trust her consistency.

Every image of her now seemed less intimidating and more gentle. Yuri is able to look at every picture of Liv without having to turn away or flinch. He saw someone else there.

Someone who isn't a rival for Victor's affections, but just another skater. A victim of the corrupt ISU. A beautiful skater who delivered beautiful programs only a few people could appreciate.

Yuri felt his blood slowly getting hotter as his fists curled. He felt empowered once again. He felt like getting up and proving something to the world. He wanted everyone to pay attention to him for just a moment and see the beautiful things he could deliver on the ice.

And he wants people to like it, love it!

"No more hearts of glass," Yuri whispers. "Or at least I'm try to. Easier said than done, but I will try."

* * *

 _In the living room of the inn._

The party was still going on, Yuri's mom did mention that they were planning on staying up until midnight so they could set off fireworks.

Yes, even the triplets are staying up! Despite Takeshi and Yuko's attempt to take them to sleep. They just wanted to stay up so they would be there when Nicole finally opened he suitcases full of gifts.

"Are you sure you want to open the presents for everyone at New Years?" Yuko asked.

"Why not?" Nicole asked. "It's more traditional and celebratory this way."

Yuko presses a finger to her head. "I really don't want the kids to stay up late. And they won't go to sleep until…"

"Kids! Here's your present! Enjoy"

Kostner immediately flew over along with the triplets as soon as Nicole called. He grabbed two more suitcases by the wall and placed them next to the one large suitcase already on the floor before Nicole.

He and Nicole opens and distributes the gifts around.

The triplets received three new skating outfits and cute animal head skate protectors.

"Mine's the panda, called it!" Axel cried.

"Then I'll take the elephant!" Loop claimed.

"I was fine with any one of them from the beginning, so I guess mine is the dolphin," Lutz shrugged with a grin.

Yuko got a designer purse with a credit card to a popular jewelry store. She was too shocked to even speak.

Takeshi leaped with joy when he saw his gift. It was a drone. Yes, a drone. An actual drone that could fly and record videos while it did. Amazing.

"Oh, my!" Yuri's mom exclaimed as she held up an expensive-looking pair of earrings and bracelets. "My husband would never buy me anything like this!"

From the other side of the room, Yuri's father's eye twitched. But his scowl quickly turned to a smile when he saw his gift. A brand new waterproof phone case. And it came with a chain to wear around one's neck!

Yep, everyone was smitten with Victor's parents' gifts to them. Nicole stood back with pride as she took a large gulp out of a green glass bottle.

Victor missed that. And he also missed the pile of empty glass bottles in a spot next to the fireplace. Instead, he took Yuri out to the back of the inn.

* * *

"It's almost a New Year, Yuri. Can you believe it?"

"Yes. And no. So much had happened this year. I placed second at the Worlds. I found out a secret about you. Yurio and I are closer than ever now. I met your parents and your rinkmates. I sustained my first injury that caused me to withdraw. And of course, there was our brief fallout—"

"But it's over now." Victor replied. He pointed up to the starry sky. "There's about 200 stars we can see right now. But there's more. We know there's more. But what can we do about those stars? We just imagine them. But we already have a window of stars available to us right now. So cherish those stars. Cherish those moments in life that shines brighter than any other event."

Yuri rests his head against Victor's shoulder. It felt so warm and soft. He felt like it was made especially for him. He liked to think that it was.

"I'm really happy, right now, Victor." Yuri says in a confident voice. "I don't want this to end."

Victor wraps an arm around Yuri. "So long as we keep our ends of the relationship and remain honest with each other, nothing will end this happiness. Nothing."

The time is now 11:59.

Yuri gently pries himself out of Victor's grip. He stands in front of him, the moon shone behind his head, illuminating his face. Making him almost appear angelic.

Victor is in awe of the image of Yuri in front of him. Yuri swallows and exhales gently. His hands curl into fists then relaxes and repeats again.

The time is 12:00.

Yuri steps forward with no warning and placed his hands on either side of Victor's face, bringing him in. And sealing the distance between them.

Victor was caught off guard by the kiss, but didn't flinch or jerk by accident. He wraps his arms around Yuri's back and pulls him closer.

 _Boom! Kaboom!_

All over the sky, fireworks were going off, displaying a wide array of colours as the couple below seal the ties of their severed bonds.

Not too long after the kiss. Yuri pulls back, his eyes shining with tears and purity. Victor smiles gently at him, affection and love emitting from him like an aura.

"Victor, my resolution is to make the right choices from now on. Starting from this choice right here. I choose to be with you."

Victor takes Yuri's right hand clasps it with both of his hands. "No need for something as formal as a resolution. You could say that to me anytime in the year, and I'd still believe you, because Yuri, you're—"

 _BOOM! CRASH! BOOM!_

That explosion happened in close proximity to them. Smoke came out of the other side of the inn. They both rushed over to see what happened.

A portion of the inn's hot springs' change rooms and the guest rooms overlooking the hot springs was torn open with pieces of glass and wood in the water of the springs.

All of the wood looked charred and there was still traces of flames left behind. Already at the scene of the crime was Yuri's parents, the triplets, Victor's dad, Minako, and of course, Victor's mom.

Both Minako and Nicole were looking dazed on the ground, and in one of Nicole's hand was a barely functioning firework lighter.

Victor's eye twitched violently as he witnessed everything before him. Yuri quickly ran up to his parents, who looked pale and like they were about to faint over.

"Mom! Dad! What happened?"

"Huh?" Yuri's mom stuttered. "I—I don't know…all I wanted to do was set off the fireworks out here…heh, heh…"

Minako slumped onto her back, drunk. " _Hic!_ That's exactly what we did! Ms. Katsuki, what did we do wrong? I was just following, _hic_ , instructions…"

"Ha!" Nicole laughed. "The bigger the explosion the better! Good luck beating our firework everyone else who's setting off fireworks right now! Haha!"

Yuri slowly turned over to Victor, who really looked like he was about to explode and his entrails would fly as far as to the moon.

Yuri's dad wobbled down to his knees. "At least it wasn't the large firework. That would've been a real emergency…"

Victor finally lets it out.

"Yyyyyuuuuurrrrriiiii! I told you we should've hid the alcohol! Look! Your in really _did_ fall down! And who's to blame for it? You! You! You! You! You!"

 _Sigh._ "Scratch my old resolution. My new one's going to be 'fix Hasetsu Inn.'"

"Me too," Yuri's mom mumbled.

"Add me to that list Yuri's dad said before wobbling away from the scene.

Yuri himself also began to find his knees wobbly he stared at this horrible scenery before him.

"You were right, Victor. You were right. How were you right?"

* * *

 **Let's hope that Yuri's family forgives Victor's mom and quickly fix the inn and move on and pretend that nothing ever happened...**

 **What you guys think? Are you still going to stick around even though future chapters will most likely come very late? I would appreciate it greatly if you do!**

 **Seriously, the only reason I finished this chapter, is because I know that there's people out there (even though it may not be a lot) who are waiting for the next chapter of this fanfic, heck, even for the ending!**

 **So I can't give up yet! No! Not until this fanfic is over! Not until season 2 of Yuri! On Ice comes out! Not until figure skating in real life becomes less corrupt and is coming back to life again!**

 **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to REVIEW, FAV, and FOLLOW! (Remember, you're the ones who are making this fanfic possible.)**

 **See you all a very long time from now!**


	29. Success is the Priority

**Disclaimer: I do not own YOI, all of that belongs to Kubo sensei. I just own this fanfiction idea. Enjoy!**

 **Merry Christmas everyone! Here's my present to all of you: a new chapter!**

 **Anyways, I'm back, and I'm currently on winter break. It's sort of less stressful right now, but I got one large project to work on and some university supplementaries to fill out. Man, forget what I said earlier, this is stressful.**

 **Anyways, I was sitting up last night, thinking about what on Earth I want to do with my life when I get older. I mean, I kind of already applied to certain programs for university, but thinking about it again. Do I really want to go into those programs?**

 **If I got to choose from my heart. I would've gone with something that has to with creativity. Something like digital art, studio music, drama and playwriting, film-making, creative writing, etc.**

 **I think what got me to not choose one of those programs was because I was afraid that I won't be able to live up to my dreams. That I won't be able to make a living out of it. But then again, if it's something I love, then I don't care how much my paycheck is, right?**

 **Geez, I don't even know myself anymore.**

 **But I know one thing for sure. I'm going to finish this fic before I graduate. I will and I must.**

 **Thank you all for your support!**

 **Please FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW if you enjoyed this chapter!**

* * *

 **Ch. 26: Success is the top Priority**

 _Several weeks after New Year's Eve._

Yuri was helping his dad and several other workers in moving planks of wood around. The destroyed section of the inn is nearly fixed by now, it just needed some more stability and after that, the furniture needed to be moved in again.

Then those rooms will finally be opened for guests again. Yuri puts the plank down and wipes his forehead. He had never imagined something like this to happen. Well, that's the last time he'll be underestimating Victor's words.

Next time, he'll remember to hide the alcohol in a safe and bury the safe six feet under the ocean when Victor's folks come to visit again. He and his entire family will remember.

"Yuri!" His sister, Mari called inside for him. "Your cell phone's ringing!"

Yuri walks back in, dusting his hands on his pants. "What's the number? Who is it?"

"Not your boyfriend this time. It's someone else." Mari hands the cell phone over to Yuri, who held it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Yuri. It's Celestino."

"Celestino!" Yuri gasps. "What brings you calling? And isn't it like super late where you are?"

"Kind of, but I needed to ask you something. Yuri, I saw your status on the Four Continents and Worlds. They said that you withdrew due to injury. I thought you said you were feeling better?" Celestino truly sounded concerned. "What happened?"

Yuri leaned against the wooden wall. "Oh, don't worry. I'm fine, well, not fine—I mean, my hip injury hasn't healed 100% yet, so Victor and I decided that the safest bet is to withdraw for the rest of this season and work harder during the summer. That's all. Nothing to worry about. I'm glad to see you're concerned about me though…"

Celestino seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Ok. It's just that I kind of thought that something worse happened and you decided to give up skating altogether, I mean the last time I talked to you, you were in a pretty unstable condition. I'm glad to see you fixed your relationship with Victor. That's the way to get at life, Yuri!"

Yuri nods. "Thanks. I'm just so overjoyed about this. It's like a dream that actually came true. Victor actually returned to me, and was honest with me. That's the best case scenario I could've imagined."

"Mmhmm. And you should cherish him more now, don't let another fallout happen."

Yuri laughs. "Oh, I'm feeling pretty good. I think I'll be able to fight for my relationship with him this time around. No more running away. I hope."

Celestino agrees. "By the way, is Victor still competing?"

"Yeah. He's going to the Europeans this month and then the Worlds. He should do better now that he can focus solely on his stuff."

"And what are you planning to do in his absence?" Celestino inquires.

Yuri's mind goes blank. He thought that he had this completely mapped out since December, but as soon as Celestino asked him that question, he realized that he doesn't have too good of an idea of what he's planning on doing for the rest of this season until summer.

"Uummm. I'm thinking of practicing by myself at my usual rink. Maybe start thinking of potential program music? And work on basic stroking until my hip is completely healed…" Yuri trails off, losing things to say.

"All by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't you come over to Detroit for a while? I could oversee your training until the season's over."

Yuri's eyes widened to Celestino's sudden offer. "Really? You mean it?"

"'Course. It'll be like old times. Come over sometime near the end of this month maybe. Phichit'll be glad to see you too. I'll let you talk this out with Victor before you make your decision. But still, I'll be looking forward to seeing you again in person, Yuri."

"Me too. This is—I can't—just, wow. Thank you. This way, I'll be able to present myself newly improved to Victor once his season is done. I'll get onto it. Bye, Celestino!" Yuri says quickly.

"Bye."

* * *

 _St. Petersburg Arena. Practice._

Victor was running through his free skate to Croatian Rhapsody while some of his other rinkmates were resting on the bleachers and the remaining were on the ice also practicing for upcoming Europeans.

Sitting on the bleachers was Yurio and Mike, both were reading their math textbook questions furiously. Norah sat on the bleacher beneath them with her math textbook too, looking even more frustrated than the two of them.

She gives up on the question and stands up. "Victor! I'm borrowing your phone for the answers, I really don't know how to solve it! Don't worry, I won't go into anything private!"

Victor skates a series of steps and turns right past them, barely being able to hear Norah audibly. "What? Oh, sure, sure. Go ahead!"

Norah types in Victor's passcode and opens his PDF documents reader app where Victor kept the answers to practice questions he did with her over the week.

Then a call suddenly came in.

Victor's loud heavy metal ringtone goes off and the image of Yuri comes up on the screen with his name and number on top of it.

Norah's eyes open wide with shock as a smile slowly forms on her face. Without taking a second thought, she answers the call.

"Y'ello!" She sang.

"Hi! Oh, uh…is this Victor?" Yuri's voice slowly dissipated on the other end.

"No, it's his little sister that he never told anyone about," Norah replied cheerfully. "If you want to speak to my older brother, then you mus—"

 _Snatch!_ With one hand, Mike takes the cell phone away from Norah's hand and goes onto the ice with his skates on. He shouts after Victor.

"Victor! Victor!" Mike cried.

Norah chases after Mike across the ice. "Oh no, you don't!"

Victor stops his program run through and sees the two teenagers speed skate towards him. Yurio cheered on Mike from the boards. "Go, Mike! GO!"

In a desperate effort to get the phone back, Norah took a leap of faith and pushes Mike down onto the ice with her. They slide across until they are only a few centimeters in front of Victor.

Mike still had the phone in his hands though. He held it up weakly.

"Here…it's your beloved fiancé…"

Victor takes his phone with excitement from Mike's shaky hands and answered in a sing-song voice.

"Y'ello!"

"Was that really your little sister?" Yuri asked in confusion.

"What? No, that's just lil' Norah Meyer. You met her before when you came here. Yeah, sorry about that. But this is me! The real me!" Victor skates towards the boards as Mike and Norah slowly got back on their feet. "What's up?"

"Oh, I was just going to tell you something. Celestino called me earlier today, he offered to oversee my training until your season is done. So I'm planning to go to Detroit soon. I just wanted you to know and all…"

Victor grew serious as he put on his skate guards and he left the arena and into the hallways where it was quieter. "I see. It's a good idea. It's just a bit out of the blue…"

"Sorry. I just received his offer this morning, so I wanted your approval as soon as possible."

"No, no! I understand, if you want to go, then go ahead! I think this is a great opportunity," Victor cried. "You'll be able to improve and work on so much more with someone qualified watching over you. Go to Detroit, Yuri!"

"Alright, then. I'll be scheduling a flight sometime next week or after that. I won't let you down." Yuri says. "Promise."

Victor smiled gently. "I know."

"I'll call often."

"Not more often than I will."

Yuri's laughter is heard on the other end of the call.

 _Click._

The call ended and Victor sighed. He leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the ground of the hallway. He knows that he should feel happy that Yuri is going out of his way to improve his skills for him.

But still…

"Why does it feel like the more distance between us, the tighter our relationship is pulled?"

"What are you doing out here?"

Yakov appears from down the hall, his usual expression on his face. Victor looks up at his coach with feigned joy.

"Just thinking about how ethical it would be to make a dog collar and leash for humans."

"And why…?"

"So the people dear to me will never leave my side." Victor stood up. "Yuri's going to train in Detroit with his former coach, Celestino until the season's over."

Yakov seemed delighted hearing that. "That's good! Finally, a skater with an actual plan! Yuri should be a role model for others. Putting his skills before anything else."

Victor groaned. "Will you stop putting salt in the wound in my heart? Look, Yuri and I were already separated by 1037484 km and now, we'll be separated by 1038488589229 km!"

"Good, so focus on your season," Yakov replied. "Yuri's doing this for you. To make sure you're at the top of your game."

"I know that," Victor answered. "You're right. I should focus on my own stuff. He's focusing on his with Celestino."

Yakov nodded with approval. "Ah, if only Celestino can do this more often. It would be great. Actually…"

Yakov stops midway and looks at Victor with an idea glowing above his head. "That's not a bad idea. Victor, have you ever thought about getting a partner?"

Victor looked confused. "Like uh…a spouse…?"

"No!" Yakov bellowed. "A _working_ partner! A co-coach!"

 _Co-coach..._ that word rang through Victor's head. He completely understood what Yakov is saying but he just couldn't bring himself to accept it. He wants to be the only in charge of Yuri.

But, after thinking about it again. Victor realizes that Yuri is a skater too, and this coaching thing he has with him, isn't purely for the fun of it, but to make him a better skater and competitor.

So maybe a co-coach is what Yuri needs. What they need.

"A co-coach, eh? That does seem like a beneficial idea," Victor answered.

"It is!" Yakov insisted. "You two can split how you want to coach Yuri, and this way, you'll have less load on your plate during competitive seasons!"

Victor nodded. "I'll give Yuri a call. I think he'll agree."

"You go ahead and do that. I'm pretty sure he'll agree." Yakov said confidently. "And during the time he's in Detroit, he can also focus on finding a suitable co-coach with Celestino. Of course, the final decision will be run by you too. But only after they think they have a good candidate."

"Yes, coach." Victor rolled his eyes as he tapped on Yuri's name in his recent calls list.

* * *

 _Several weeks later. Hasetsu airport._

Yuri's family sees him off as he boarded the plane with his suitcase and backpack and a big smile on his face.

Once on the plane, Yuri quickly takes out his laptop and reads over the email Victor and Yakov sent him, talking about the search for a co-coach. He was taken by surprise several weeks ago when Victor called him back after he just told him about going to train with Celestino for the season.

"A co-coach does seem pretty beneficial though…" Yuri thought aloud. "And it would give Victor less work and pressure. That's a good thing."

The email outlines things like the searching and interviewing process, qualities of a good co-coach, assessing their personality to Yuri's preferences, etc, etc.

It didn't long before Yuri fell asleep on his seat as the plane flew out of the country and across the Pacific Ocean.

In his own little dream world, Yuri imagines the best candidate for his future co-coach. He wakes up as soon as the image came to his head.

Opening up his laptop again, Yuri types a quick note on his notepad app.

"Maybe co-coach candidate: Nobuo Adachi?"

Besides Victor, Yuri also admired Japan's former all-star figure skater, Nobuo Adachi. Before he retired, Nobuo was considered to be the only one in the world who could Victor a run for the gold.

The only skater who has the jumping consistency and demanding presence to sweep the audience off their feet. The only person Yuri currently has in mind to become his future co-coach.

If it wasn't for Victor's injury before the men's singles of the Sochi Olympics, it would've been a brutal battle between them to claim the title of champion of the 2014 Olympics men's figure skating event.

Yuri used to imagine himself in the skates of Nobuo back then, being able to compete on the same as Victor and be successful at it too.

"Well, that's only a dream. But one that would great if it came true."

* * *

 _One day later_.

The airplane flew in the Detroit airport and landed. Yuri quickly got his backpack and checked to make sure he didn't leave anything behind before heading off the plane and into the airport where all the other passengers were going.

Inside, he waited for his suitcase to come out onto the conveyer belt. After minutes of waiting, the black and grey suitcase came out and Yuri takes it off before it continues going down.

He walks down to the main entrance of the airport where several cars and taxis and buses were already lined up for passengers to travel to and fro.

"Yuri! Over here!"

Yuri looks up and sees Phichit standing a little to the side of the entrance area, waving at him. Immediately, Yuri runs up to his friend. They embrace.

"I've missed you!" Yuri cried. "I'm sorry about bailing out on you on the Four Continents and Worlds!"

Phichit smirked. "Uh huh, you'd better be. What happened to the saying, 'bros before uh…', never mind."

"What are you doing here exactly? Other than greeting me?" Yuri asked, stepping back from their embrace.

"Oh, right!" Phichit grinned. "I signed up to be your guardian while you stay here! It'll be a throwback to college days! Except I have my own apartment by now, so we can turn up the heat and be loud as much as we want!"

Yuri rolled his eyes. "Oh no, does that mean midnight drinking parties?"

Phichit leads the way out of the airport and towards the parking lot where his car was located. "Maybe. Maybe not. I was thinking more of outdoor places to take you to. Let's have some fun while we still can!"

"Why not?"

* * *

 _Events of the day._

The first thing Phichit and Yuri did was check in at the hotel Yuri was staying at before he moves in with Phichit at his new apartment.

As soon as Yuri dropped off his luggage in his room, Phichit yanked him out the door and back downstairs. Outside, they got in his car and drove off to the downtown portion of the city. They stopped the car in a side parking lot, for the time being, paying for the ticket to park there.

For the rest of the afternoon, Phichit takes Yuri to every department store, every diner, every arcade, and every theatre, though they weren't able to catch any shows going on.

It didn't matter, Yuri was having a blast. Skating was the last thing on his mind right now. He was laughing and prancing about with his old college roommate and friend.

By now, it is evening and they recently finished eating dinner at a buffet. Yuri never felt so bloated his entire life. He felt like hurling in the nearest trash bin, but he didn't seem to dislike the feeling of throwing up.

In fact, he felt almost completely numb to any feeling. Phichit had to drag him out of the buffet to prevent him from banging against every wall, lamppost, and person they come across.

He wasn't drunk. No, Yuri was just ecstatic. Ever since New Year's Eve, he's been feeling as everything is going to be fine. He's even been humming the melody to, ' _If you're happy and you know it clap your hands_ ,' for quite awhile.

Finally, Phichit reached the area where his car was parked with Yuri's arm across his shoulder. Then the laughter came to a stop.

There on the windshield of the car was a green and white parking ticket. Yuri plucked it out from the car and Phichit snatched it out of his hand, reading the fee printed on it.

"But it's only like twenty seconds over!" Phichit cried.

Yuri pointed at a nearby police car that just drove off. "Well, we were twenty seconds late. Sorry, it was probably my fault. If I didn't act up, you wouldn't have to drag me."

Phichit shook his head and threw the ticket into the air carelessly. "Whatever. It's only a few bucks. Today was worth it! And tomorrow is when training begins!"

Yuri swung his arm excitedly. "Oh yeah! Can't wait!"

* * *

 _Victor's apartment._

After a hard day of practice, Victor was ready to go to sleep right on the rug of his foyer. But thanks to the insistent barking of Makkachin, he managed to wake up again to at least change out of his jacket and winter get-up.

Comfortable in his regular clothes underneath the jacket, Victor slumps onto his bed inside his bedroom and closes his eyes.

"41 minutes…" he mumbled. "And then I'll get up to eat some dinner…"

 _Victor was in his hotel room resting on his bed. Suddenly, he heard a knock at his door. He jumped up and opened it._

 _Yuri was standing there, looking upset and disappointed._

 _Victor's jaw dropped. "Hey, Yuri! You're back so soon from Detroit!"_

 _"Where were you, Victor?!" He demanded._

 _"Wha—wha…?" Victor was taken aback._

 _"Don't play dumb with me!" Yuri put his foot down. "I gave you an invitation! I tried to call you, but you wouldn't answer! Why? Why didn't you come?"_

 _Now Victor was really confused. "I don't think I understand…"_

 _"My wedding!"_

 _Yuri lifted his hand up, showing off the giant golden ring around his finger. Victor nearly fainted at the sight of that._

 _"You're familiar with my wife, right?" Yuri opens the door wider, revealing another person standing next to him. "Olivia Nguyen?"_

 _Sure enough, Liv was standing there. Clinging to Yuri's arm like they're a newlywed couple. She smiles at Victor._

 _"Hello, Mr. Nikiforov."_

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Victor woke up panting and in cold sweat. His face was pale as he quickly reached for his cell phone on his nightstand next to his clock.

As soon as he saw the time displayed on the clock, Victor nearly dropped his cell phone.

"11:43 at night already?!"

Groaning in annoyance and fear, he desperately scrolled down his contacts list to Yuri's name.

Tapping on Yuri's name, Victor held the phone to his ear, anxiously waiting for his beloved student to answer.

 _Ring…ring…ring…_

That dial tone was starting to drive him insane. _Come on, Yuri. Pick the goddamn cell phone already!_

* * *

 _Detroit skating club. Ice rink._

Yuri takes a breather after just finishing his old free skate run-through. Phichit praises him for a successful practice before leaving to get a snack from the vending machines outside.

Taking a look around the rink, Yuri feels a wave of nostalgia wash over him. Back then, there were about 10-15 people on the ice during freeskate sessions and now, there were about 9-10 people.

Well, Celestino did say that they spread out the practice times more so that higher-level skaters would not have to be so cautious around lower-level skaters. This made practice easier and safer.

 _Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!_

Yuri spots his cell phone vibrating on the edge of the boards where he placed it. Then his eyes widen in horror as he saw that his phone was about to fall over the edge, each vibration sent it closer to falling.

Skating over to the boards at top speed, Yuri catches his phone last minute and sighed in relief.

Looking down at the phone's screen, Yuri smiles and rolls his eyes at the sight of Victor's image and phone number. He presses the green phone icon to answer.

"Hello."

"Yuri!"

Yuri quickly separated his ear from his phone to prevent himself from going deaf. "What happened?"

"I just had a nightmare! What are you doing right now?" Victor shivered.

"Uhh, practicing at the rink…"

"I need confirmation!"

Conveniently, Phichit appeared before Yuri, holding a water bottle in his hand. "Hey, Yuri. Who are you talking to?"

Yuri puts his phone on speaker mode and shoves it at Phichit's face. "Here's your confirmation, Victor."

Phichit looked confused but decided to play along anyway. "Hey, Victor! Don't worry about a thing! I'm looking after this roll of innocence for the time being!"

In his bedroom, Victor almost sighed in relief. He was about to say goodbye and hang up when he suddenly remembered another issue he had to address.

"Yuri! Still there?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Ok! So, about the co-coach thing. We need to take this slow and serious. It's not a game. Whoever we find, he or she is going to be working very closely with us all the time. So if you're not comfortable or I'm not comfortable with that, we're going to have problems," Victor explained.

"I know that," Yuri answered, putting his phone off speaker mode and bringing it up to his ear again. "I already made a list of qualities and traits I'm looking for in coaches. Not to mention that Celestino and I have been going through PSA ratings of different coaches and we've even called a few."

Victor nodded eagerly. "And?"

"And…I'm planning to either go see them in action at their rink or call them over here to talk to them in person," Yuri shook his head. "I don't know. I want you to have a say in the selection process too, after all, the person we hire is going to be your colleague."

"Alright then…what I suggest is this. For whatever coach you think meets your list of qualities, you meet them in person. Talk to them. See what kind of person they are. If they've been coaching for awhile, see how they interact with their students on and off ice."

Yuri quickly gets off ice and towards the bleachers where his skating bag is. He fishes out a pen and paper and jots down what Victor is saying. "Ok…talk to them…personality…interaction with student…got it."

Victor sits upright on his bed and rakes his hair. "Usually, coaches are coaches because they're 'good.' In terms of skating, teaching, and goal-setting. But that's too general. I know you, Yuri. The real you. You're a fragile piece of glass with a lot of emotions trapped inside. For you, someone who can connect with you is of utmost importance."

Yuri remained silent. He slowly jots down notes but is barely able to concentrate. Victor was right. What he really wants is a co-coach who understands what he's been through, and understand his feelings when he's skating, whether it's competitively or leisurely.

"Yuri, you're an artist on the ice and I love it. You need a co-coach who can relate to that, otherwise we're just going to be butting heads all the time," Victor finished.

Finishing up the last letter of his notes, Yuri put his pen and paper away in the smaller pocket of his skating bag. He sets his phone aside while doing that.

"Hello? Yuri? Did you get all of that?"

Yuri picks up his phone again. "Got it. But about the last part…how am I supposed to know if they can relate to me or not?"

"I don't know. You tell me," Victor shrugged. "Listen, hon. They're relating to _you_ , so you have to find out yourself whether or not they share your ideas and feelings. Not me."

"But I really don't know, Victor. I don't want to mess this up."

"Whoever you choose and hire, I'll be in full support of it. It's your skating career, do what you want with it. I believe you're going to make the right choice."

Feeling slightly relieved to hear Victor's confidence in him, Yuri decides to end the call. "Ok. I'll find a way. I will."

"I know. Bye. Love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

 _I won't let you down, Victor._

During these months away from home, Yuri pushes himself every day with Celestino to improve his skills. Being as patient as he can and as cautious as he can.

Starting off with small technical elements and then working his way up to more difficult ones. Day by day, Yuri wakes up at five in the morning and works until five in the afternoon. In the first few weeks, his body becomes so sore after practice that Phichit had to drag him back to his place.

Yuri would sleep like a child every evening when he and Phichit got back to his apartment. He could barely move after every practice. It was a huge toll on his endurance and stamina.

But after those first few weeks, he became used to the pain and is able to keep his body up and moving every day after practice. Now Phichit was able to get some rest from constantly carrying him back then.

Practice got tougher when Yuri decides to up the difficulty of his elements. No more singles or doubles, time to go into triples again. Under the watchful eyes of Celestino, Yuri practiced triple jumps.

Triple salchows, triple toe loops, triple loops, and more.

 _Revisiting these old jumps. It's almost like going back to being a novice skater again._

With every fall, Yuri reviews what he did wrong and tried again. And again. And again. Until he could land it consistently. When he's done practicing jumps, he would work on spins and field moves, which weren't too much of a struggle for him.

Those were artistic elements for Yuri. He's always comfortable performing them.

 _But I'm going to accept the fact that the ISU isn't always going to admire those elements. If I want to win. I have to jump higher!_

Celestino and Phichit helped Yuri with selecting possible candidates for a co-coach. Going through resumes, interviews, and old skating clips of all those candidates with Yuri. And of course, always listening to his opinion on those candidates.

Yuri and Celestion would go out on weekends or even after practice sometimes to visit nearby coaches and see what they're like. They'd schedule ahead of time so that the coaches know to be expecting Yuri.

During those visits, Yuri would watch those coaches give lessons to their students on ice. And after lessons, he would talk to those coaches off ice. They'd talk about things like Yuri's skating goals, his dreams, and Victor's impact on his life.

 _Oh, Victor. It's so hard looking for the perfect candidate. I'm so afraid of making a wrong move. Everyone I'm meeting so far has been very nice and are very promising._

After every visit, Yuri would cross off names on his list of candidates. The list grew narrower and narrower. But he still felt like he was getting nowhere close to hiring someone permanently.

During practices, Yuri finally reached the last stage of his technical elements, which were the quadruple jumps. Celestino gave him strict instructions to not try anything too risky or attempt any variations to ensure Yuri won't injure himself again.

 _I won't hurt myself again. Taking risks is a must, Victor. But I have to make sure I'm taking the right kind of risks!_

One day, Yuri was finally able to land his quadruple salchow again. On that day, he finally thought of his strategy on how to find the co-coach that can understand and relate to him as a skater.

"Celestino!"

"What?"

"Round up the people whose names I haven't crossed off yet! I know how to select them now!" Yuri shouted as he skated off the ice.

Celestino followed behind him. "And what are you going to do?"

"Improvise a routine to my free skate song, _Yuri on Ice._ "

 _How about that, Victor? How about it?_

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! And please be sure to tell me in the reviews whether or not you want more competition event chapters or non-skating chapters. Because squeezing competitions and non-skating daily events in one chapter is really difficult. It's one thing or the other.**

 **Anyways, I wish you guys all a Merry Christmas! :D**


	30. The Co-Coach

**Disclaimer: I don't own YOI, I own this fic. Enjoy! :D**

 **Hey guys! It's back to school from the holidays for me! And I'm still waiting on acceptance letters from university...well, in the meantime I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I found it to be very difficult for me to write lately, I don't know why. It's probably because of the stress. But to be honest, I'm not feeling as motivated as I was before, so chapters might come out later.**

 **Don't worry though! Motivation comes to me every now and then! It just takes time! I found the motivation to finish this chapter after watching Yuna Kim's beautiful 2013 free skate to Les Miserables!**

 **Long live the Ice Queen! :D**

 **Please FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW if you liked this chapter! That might give me some more motivation to continue writing as well!**

* * *

 **Ch. 27: The Co-Coach**

 _Detroit Skating Club Rink._

"Yuri!" Celestino cried from the sidelines.

Yuri skated over immediately. "Yeah? What is it?"

"I want to ask you your opinion on the coach we went to visit last week in Chicago. Coach Lance?"

"What about him?" Yuri wiped away some sweat on his forehead. "I personally think he's a really nice guy, do you think we should call him over for the free skate improvisation test?"

"Yuri. We've been calling nearly all the names on the list that you haven't crossed out and seen them all improvise to _Yuri on Ice_ , but you haven't called any of them back to tell them what you're thinking about!"

Yuri sighed and nodded. There's not much he could say. Everyone he met was very nice and seemed like a potentially good coach, but none of them seemed to connect to him in the way he wants.

All of the improvisations he watched didn't emit the kind of feeling he was hoping for. It didn't feel like he could relate to their emotions on ice.

Celestino tapped Yuri on the shoulders to wake him up. "Yuri, listen to me. It's almost March. The season's almost over, Victor's going to return from competitions soon, and you managed to improve on everything. Your quadruple lutz is consistent by now. But you haven't decided on a co-coach yet! Wasn't that goal number 2?"

"It's not easy, Celestino. It really isn't." Yuri admitted. "Please, I need help."

" _Sigh._ You've waited all this time to ask for help? Yuri, can't you see that I've already given you help? Both me and Phichit? What more help do you want from us?"

"I don't know...confirmation I guess," Yuri scratched the back of his shoulders.

After a minute of silence, Celestino spoke again. "Ok, Yuri. I've been thinking about this a lot recently and I think it's about time I do this. I'm going to contact an old skater from this rink. I think that'll be best for you. Her name's Olivia Marusic, I've known her for some time. Excellent skater and a regular private coach of several juniors here, but she has the qualities to coach seniors in my honest opinion."

Yuri almost felt relieved to hear it. "Really? Thank you, Celestino! I—I'll make up my mind on some of those candidates right after practice! Thank you so much!"

With that, Yuri skates back to the center of the ice where he worked on some choreography he could potentially use in next season's free skate.

* * *

 _St. Petersburg, downtown._

Victor drove down the streets of the city with a pile of store-bought goods stacked up in the back of his car. He's been out shopping all afternoon after practice.

All of those goods are wedding-related items. His rinkmate, Constantine Cohen was getting married. And nearly all of the skaters at the rink were invited to the wedding.

He still remembers the look on Yakov's face when Constantine causally told him that he's taking a break from competing next season because he's planning to get married.

 _Yakov nearly dropped his coffee. "Eh? I thought you and Sophia planned to keep this engagement until sometime next year. Why are you guys moving up the wedding?"_

" _Yeah...but we just love each other that much, that's why we want to get married sooner," Constantine backed up. "Victor should know that feeling."_

" _100%!" Victor shouted with thumbs up._

 _But Yakov didn't buy it. "Did you get her pregnant?"_

" _No."_

Victor laughed against the steering wheel. "You said 'no' way too fast, Constantine. Of course you got her pregnant. The most mature guy at the rink finally became a human."

The waterfront area of the city came up in front of him. He passed by the little bench in the center of the sidewalk overlooking the body of water.

Memories flashed through his mind. He quickly shook his head free of those memories and pressed the gas pedal harder.

"I have to move on, for Yuri's sake," Victor said out loud to himself. "Why can't you just stay in the past?!"

He drove all the way home and carefully moved all of the presents one by one from his car up to his apartment. Once he's finished, he looked back to admire the organized mountain of gifts in his living room.

"There! I hope you and Sophia have a happy life!" Victor puts his hands on his hips. "Must be really great. Being so sure on the one you love."

He hits himself in the temple. Hard. "What am I talking about? I'm very sure in my life! I got a great life! I got a great family! Great friends! But best of all a great fiancé! That's right! Yuri, I'm going to make sure we're going to be buried next to each other when we die!"

* * *

 _Downtown Detroit._

Phichit and Yuri sat together at a small coffee shop. They needed to let off some steam after a very eventful practice today. Well, it was more eventful for Yuri than it was for Phichit. He was just here to comfort his friend.

"Wanna talk about it?" Phichit tried to get Yuri to stick his head up from his arms.

Yuri refused to budge and answered his friend by shaking his head while it was still buried in his arms. Phichit sighed and slouched in his chair, his fingers tapping the edge of the paper coffee cup in his hand.

He tried again to get Yuri to talk.

"Yuri, your family's just trying to help you get over your loss. What's so bad about the new dog they got?"

Yuri finally stuck his head out. His eyes were sullen and dead. "You don't understand…I get that they're trying to help me move on…but it's not that easy! You can't just expect me to over Vic-chan's death, even though it's been more than a year, so soon! It's not that easy…"

"Give the new dog a chance, Yuri," Phichit encouraged. "Besides, they haven't even named him! I think your folks want you to name him. What are you thinking of?"

"Victor."

"You already named your last dog that."

"No, I mean, I'm actually thinking of 'Victor,' as in human 'Victor,' right now," Yuri clarified.

Phichit felt dumbfounded and resisted the urge to slap himself. So he slapped Yuri's face instead. That caused Yuri to snap out of his sullen and moody attitude and return to his normal one.

"W—what was that for?"

"Geez, I don't know!" Phichit threw his hands up in the air. "Maybe to vent out my frustrations that I barely got any thanks during this time you spent here! Sorry, Yuri."

Yuri shook his hand at Phichit. "No, no, you're right. I've been pretty annoying recently huh? I can't make up my minds for what I want to choose as co-coach despite all the effort you and Celestino have done to advertise and decide. Thanks for your help, Phichit."

"No problem!" Phichit grinned, forgetting about the slap from earlier. "What are friends for? Now, back on the topic of the new dog."

"Uhh…" Yuri began sinking back down on the table. But Phichit picked him up by the back of his shirt collar.

"Come on, Yuri! No more sulking! It's time to face reality! We're all going to cope with losses and stuff like that from time to time, so we're going to have to learn how to move on as well."

"Fine, fine," Yuri gives in. "I'm going to name the new dog…after my new co-coach!"

"What if your co-coach is a woman?" Phichit asked.

"Then I'll use a male name that sounds somewhat similar," Yuri answered simply. "It's as easy as that. My old dog was named after Victor, who is my current coach. So I'll the name this new dog after this second coach I'll be hiring."

Phichit threw his empty coffee cup into the air. "I can accept that! There we go, Yuri! See? You're already moving on! Be grateful that at least your parents are able to get a dog that looks somewhat similar to doggy Victor. It's not so easy if a person dear to you were to leave!"

"I guess so," Yuri smiled. "Alright, I'm feeling pretty good right now, so how about we go?"

"Ok, good! By the way, Celestino just texted me. He said that he just sent the recommendation letter to the person he thinks is going to be a good candidate for your co-coach," Phichit explained as Yuri got up from their table.

"Oh really? That's great to hear! I need to get him a thank-you present for this!"

"Then what are you waiting for?" Phichit pushed Yuri out of the coffee shop gate. "Let's go!"

* * *

 _Days later. Detroit Skating Club Rink._

Celestino was on the phone when Yuri entered the staff room. He quickly ended the conversation with the person on the other end of the line. "Yeah, today is fine. But please hurry up, this is the long weekends after all. We close sometime after three. Bye. _Click._ Yuri!"

"Celestino!" Yuri holds out a small bag that he was hiding behind his back when he first entered. "Here's a little something for helping me so much these past few months."

"Thanks!" Celestino accepted the bag and immediately peers inside. "What is it?"

"Oh, you'll see."

Celestino carefully opened the bag and reached to take out the item Yuri bought for him. It was a pair of keychains in the shape of a puppy's head. He laughed at the sight of the gift.

"This is so cute, Yuri!" Celestino carefully put the gift back into the bag and away on a shelf. "I love it. So, what are you planning to do for the long weekends?"

Yuri leans against the door to the staff room. "Well, Phichit's thinking of taking to a lot of different outdoor places that I've never heard of…I think he's planned something for this afternoon after practice is over. A new park or something?"

"Well, that's good to know, Yuri. It's good to see you're loosening up again," Celestino sits down in his chair and swivels around to face Yuri. " _Sigh._ These months passed by too fast. You'll be going home soon next month."

"Yeah…" Yuri walked closer to Celestino. "I know I shouldn't feel sad leaving since I'll see you again at the Grand Prix next season, but…I guess people always feel sad when they're preparing to leave a place they've grown accustomed to."

"Think about it this way, you'll see Victor again!"

The image of his silver-haired and giddy coach running up to him with open arms crossed his mind. It made Yuri laugh.

"I guess so! He'll probably be wearing that 2017 Worlds champion gold medal when I see him again! Since I haven't gotten any myself yet…" Yuri muttered.

"You'll get one soon enough," Celestino pats him on the back as he opens the door to leave the office. "Maybe with the arrival of your new co-coach, you'll get one by next season!"

Yuri followed Celestino out of the office and down the hall towards the main rink. "Oh yeah! When will I get to see her? That woman you sent the recommendation letter to?"

"Oh, her? Probably this afternoon, if she gets here before we close. It's been snowing all morning, so I don't know how the roads are like outside. But if not this afternoon, then next Monday."

"Great!" Yuri stopped in at the fork where the hall divides into two directions, one down the changerooms and the other to the main rink. "I trust you more than myself, Celestino. But I'll still make the final decision. If it doesn't work out, I'll call up one of the other coaches we met previously."

"Mm. Don't forget to tell Victor your final choice too," Celestino reminded.

"I will."

* * *

 _During practice._

Yuri fell on his combination jump again. Quadruple lutz/triple toe. This time, it was because he didn't land properly on the lutz, so that took out a lot of momentum from his triple toe. He tossed his head back in frustration.

This jump combination is considered to be one of the most difficult in the men's senior division. If he could land this, he could insert it into the beginning of his new program. Just imagine the points he'd earn from base value alone!

Circling the ice again with crossovers, Yuri built up speed as he went into the jump again. After waiting for a good while on his left back outside edge, he planted his toe pick into the ice with great force.

 _One…two…three…four…_

Yuri successfully landed the lutz without scratching the ice with his toepick on the landing. Now onto the toe loop. Reaching back with his left leg, he planted his toe pick into the ice again to launch the second jump of the combination.

 _One…two…three…_

And he landed successfully on his right back outside edge! He felt some triumph build up in him as he punched one fist into the air.

"Yes!" He half-shouted half-whispered.

 _Just wait until Victor sees…no, wait! I have yet to land it consistently! Let's keep working on that…_

Yuri spends nearly the entire three hours at the rink working on the quadruple lutz/triple toe combination. His success rate was 50/50. There were times when he would land them consecutively and then there were times when he would pop the lutz before he could even go into the toe loop.

It was an exhilarating process. Trying to master a jump combination.

Eventually, Yuri decided to stop for awhile to work on elements. Such as spins. That was his strong suit. Along with field moves.

From the sidelines, Phichit noticed that Yuri had switched from working on the quadruple lutz/triple toe to his flying death drop sit spin. Phichit, himself, has been working on his next season's program for this entire practice since he isn't going to the Worlds this season.

The amount of improvement Yuri has made since Victor first started coaching him, amazed Phichit. The fact that his best friend could land quadruple lutzes now is beyond astonishing.

But it also worried him at the same time. What Phichit loved more than anything about Yuri's skating, doesn't have to do anything with his jumps or spins, but it has to do with Yuri's presence on the ice.

Back then when Yuri and he used to be under Celestino's tutelage, Phichit loved how Yuri is able to lose himself so easily whenever he's running through his program before competitions and even during regular practices.

But whenever it came to major competitions. Yuri would break under pressure. That was his one weakness.

Until now.

Yuri is able to land most jumps with ease now and his confidence when entering major competitions increased significantly. But had his style of skating changed too?

Did he sacrifice his feelings and emotions for more technical elements? Phichit hoped that he did not. Especially since recently, the ISU have been showing many signs of corruption and unfair scoring.

Phichit himself, experienced some of that himself at the Four Continents this season, when he was given a PCS score far lower than what he and Celestino expected. Even some of his GOE scores were questionable.

It's like they're favouring skaters with huge jumps, especially new emerging skaters from all over the world, and are giving all the points to them. How on earth did skating become like this?

"Phichit!"

Yuri suddenly shouted from the rink. It woke Phichit up from his thoughts. Yuri pointed at the sound system booth.

"Mind if you show me how to connect my phone to the music thing?" Yuri asked. "I want to try an improvisation to an old song of mine."

Phichit got up and skated over to Yuri, leading him to the sound system booth. "Sure thing! Come on!"

A few minutes later, they got the phone plugged into the system and the volume adjusted so that the music won't blast off anyone's ears. Yuri skates to one end of the rink and waits for the song to play.

He chose to improvise a free skate to one of his old songs from when he was in the junior division. _Nymeria._

The song starts off loud and fast. A grand opening. Yuri matches it with fast strokes and crossovers and strong arm movements.

He starts off with an opening combination of quadruple flip/triple toe, which he successfully lands. Phichit covered his mouth in shock. If this was two years ago, Yuri would've popped or fallen on the first flip jump. But now…

"He's so different…"

Right after, Yuri goes into a series of smooth steps and turns to match the gentle transition of the song. His expression was subtle, but that's all it took to change the atmosphere of this rink.

From the spread eagle to the gorgeous flying camel spin combination, Yuri put his heart and soul into every single one of his moves on the ice. He improved technically, that's true, but he never let go of his passion.

His ability to display raw emotions on theice, is his gift. And no amount of technical training or unfair ISU scoring is going to take it away from him!

* * *

 _After practice. Detroit Skating Club Rink._

Yuri packs his bags in the locker room and prepares to leave the rink. It's practically empty with the exception of himself, Celestino, and a few staff members.

Phichit already left long ago, he wanted to take Yuri out to a new park later this evening. He's been wanting to go for awhile.

Picking up his belongings, Yuri walks out of the locker room and across the long hallway of the arena, all the way to the front door.

It was still snowing outside, although not as violently as before. Yuri takes out his phone and checks for any notifications.

 _36 missed calls - Victor_

He laughs and shakes his head. It's only been a little over a month since they parted to train on their own, and Victor's acting as if they've been separated for a year!

 _8 missed calls - Phichit_

Of course, Phichit's been acting as Yuri's guardian while he's here, and sort of a tour guide. And an advertising agent for the search of a co-coach.

He and Celestino both. They've been contacting old competitive skaters, acquaintance skaters and coaches from nearby rinks, and even a few candidates from Iowa!

Posters were put up, emails were sent, phone calls were taken. So far, none of the coaches are to Yuri's liking. They're all a bit too…serious. And if it's not that, then they're too "Victor-like," and Yuri does not need that to increase his insanity.

It's a hard process. With dozens of interviews and watching all of them improvise a free skate to _Yuri On Ice_ , but a co-coach would make Victor's life a lot easier.

 _1 missed call - (647) 890-4476_

Yuri does a double take on that final notification. No, he does not recognize that number. _Probably just ads._

He puts the phone away and takes out his gloves as he prepares to leave the arena. Outside, the wind is strong and snow blew all over the place.

He shivers at the sudden change in temperature from the warm atmosphere of the arena to now.

Then from the corner of the parking lot, a person walked out. Yuri turned around to make sure it wasn't anyone he knew.

The person was a woman who was shivering in the cold weather. Yuri was about to turn back around but he then sees that she is walking straight towards him.

Thinking that this isn't an accident, Yuri stays where he is. The woman walks up to him, her face partly covered by a giant scarf.

"Excuse me?" She asks.

"Yeah?" Yuri answers.

"Is the rink still open right now?"

"Yeah, it is! You're just in time, a few minutes later, and it would've been closed. It's the long weekends after all."

"Phew! I thought I would have had to come tomorrow! I'm applying for the co-coach position here, I received a letter of recommendation for it."

Yuri's eyes widened. "Actually, I'm the student who's in need of the co-coach. You must be, Olivia Marusic! Celestino told me that you'll be coming this afternoon."

"Oh really!? Wow! Just my luck, this is awesome!" Olivia gasps.

"Yeah, I'm Yuri Katsuki. Why don't you come in? It's freezing out here." He leads the way back into the rink. "We can begin the application process."

"This is so amazing! I'm sorry I didn't recognize you! You look more mature than when I first saw you on tv!" She gushes as they entered the rink.

Yuri feels color rising to his cheeks. It's rare for him to get embarrassed by compliments from people other than his family and Victor.

Inside the arena, Yuri removed his winter getup and sits down at a nearby bench to pat off any snow from his jacket.

Olivia removed her scarf and hat, revealing her face. She had a pale classic oriental face with large round brown eyes and short dark hair. Yuri can't help but feel that he knows this woman from some time before…

The woman sighed before extending a hand out in greeting. "Pleased to meet you, Yuri. I'm Olivia Marusic. I hope we will work together soon in the future."

Yuri drops his gloves on the ground and his eyes opened wide. He feels as if the air was suddenly forced out of his lungs. After a few seconds of no response, Yuri quickly takes her hand and shakes it.

 _It's her…her last name's different, but it's her…_

"Yes. I hope so too."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading guys! And please don't forget to FAV, FOLLOW, and REVIEW! Or else the next chapter might be coming until...NEVER! Just joking, next chapter will be coming maybe next month or two weeks from now IF I'm feeling motivated. ;)**


	31. Complications

**Disclaimer: I don't own YOI, I own this fic. Enjoy! :D**

 **First of all, sorry for the long wait guys! But there's some good news! I got accepted into the university I want to go to! *Squeal! So that means I can take my foot off the gas pedal just a little bit for the rest of this semester! And maybe more time for more chapters! I think this chapter would be very satisfying for most of you guys! :D**

 **Plus, have you guys seen any figure skating from the Olympics right now? Who's your favourite skater and why? Tell me in the reviews! :D**

 **I cried during the GODLY PERFORMANCES OF YUZURU HANYU and the AMAZING TRIPLE AXEL BY MIRAI NAGASU and not to mention the BEAUTIFUL (BUT FUCKING UNDERSCORED) SHORT PROGRAM OF SATOKO MIYAHARA!**

 **The only thing I don't like about it is the inconsistent and biased PCS scores and GOEs given by the judges mainly in ladies figure skating. Sorry if you're a Medvedeva fan, but I don't think that her PCS should have been as high as 38.23. But I TOTALLY AGREE that she deserved that TES score (with those tanos and backloading, it makes sense). But NOT A WORLD RECORD SCORE!**

 **I mean, WTF!?**

 **Ok, I'm done ranting here. Sorry if I'm ruining your Olympics experience. It should be a time to enjoy watching sports you love and cheering for the athletes you admire. :)**

 **On with the chapter!**

 **And please FAVOURITE, FOLLOW, and REVIEW for more! :D**

* * *

 **Ch. 28: Complications**

 _Picking up from the last chapter…_

The woman sighed before extending a hand out in greeting. "Pleased to meet you, Yuri. I'm Olivia Marusic. I hope we will work together soon in the future."

Yuri drops his gloves on the ground and his eyes opened wide. He feels as if the air was suddenly forced out of his lungs. After a few seconds of no response, Yuri quickly takes her hand and shakes it.

 _It's her…her last name's different, but it's her…_

"Yes. I hope so too."

His hand was becoming number every second he spent shaking hers. But it was the polite thing to do. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally let go and Yuri could feel his hand again.

He looked around the place, not wanting to make eye contact with her again. The tension was just way too high. He tapped his fingers on the bench where he was sitting to tone down his nervousness, but that got Olivia to sense the tension in the air too.

"Well, Yuri," she hitched her bag up her shoulder a little more. "What's next in the application process?"

"MAMA!"

A little girl in a puffy winter outfit came running in from the door, a trail of melted snow was made with every step she took. Liv bent down to scoop the girl up into his arms.

Yuri felt the tension in the air cease as soon as he saw the adorable little girl make her appearance. He almost breathed a sigh of relief.

Liv looked at the little girl, her daughter, with some concern. "Crystal, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to wait in the car with daddy?"

The next second, a man entered the room, breathless and panting. He was tall and broad, almost intimidating. He stumbled up to the three people in front of him.

"Whew! Sorry, hon! Crystal, don't run across the parking lot like that again!" The man said in the gentlest voice Yuri ever heard. "She needs to use the washroom, Liv."

"I have to go!" Crystal cried, squirming up and down in Liv's arms.

Liv nodded in understanding, she looked at Yuri, who was gazing in awe. "Umm, where's the…?"

"The washroom should be down the hall to your left, there's a large sign that tells you so, you shouldn't miss it," Yuri explained.

"Thank you!" Liv began walking towards the destination. "Sorry about this delay!"

"No problem!" Yuri assured. "I can wait!"

With that, Liv and her daughter disappeared around the corner in search of the washroom. Yuri was left with a huge weight lifted off his chest and he stood up to do a few hops out of pure happiness.

 _There's nothing to worry about._

The man let out a huge sigh and sat down on the bench next to Yuri. "Yuri Katsuki, am I right?"

"Yeah," Yuri nodded before sitting back down next to Liv's husband who stretched his hand out for a handshake as well.

"I'm Theodore Marusic, but please, Theo is just fine. So, my wife wants to be your co-coach and all, but…I'm just a little afraid," Theo explained.

Yuri's smile disappeared from his face and a look of curiosity replaced it. "How come?"

"She had some bad experiences with figure skating...she should be the one to tell you, but they're pretty bad. It mainly involved some biased and unfair scoring," Theo looked up at the ceiling. "It amazes me that she's still clinging onto the sport after everything she's been through. Because I care for her, I let her pursue what makes her happy, but that won't stop me from still being scared that she may get hurt again. You know what I'm saying?"

Yuri nodded. He knew exactly what Theo was saying. There's also no need for Liv to tell him what happened since Victor already did. Now, he can open up to her without any awkwardness or fear.

"I used to be an ISU judge for five years. So seeing how it's falling apart right now really pains me," Theo mentioned.

Yuri was surprised upon realizing that Liv's husband was a former skating judge. "You were on the judging panel before?"

"Yeah. It wasn't the best job, but it wasn't the worst either. The worst you can get back then was harassed by angry fans for not scoring their favourite skater higher. But at least we were more honest about it back then. At least I think so. Ah, let's stop dwindling on skating, shall we?"

Yuri agreed and decided to focus on things other than skating. "Cute daughter, how old is she?"

"Two, and we got another one at home with a sitter. Name's Miguel and he's about three months old," Theo explained proudly. "Oh, the joys of parenthood…you planning to have kids one day yourself, Yuri?"

Before Yuri could answer, Liv returned with Crystal, who looked much calmer than she was before. She hands her over to Theo who stood up to walk back out to the parking lot.

"How long are you going to take?" Theo asked Liv as he adjusted Crystal in his arms.

"I'll try and finish quickly," Liv answered giving him a squeeze on his arm. "It won't take too long, right, Yuri?"

Yuri nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "Not too long at all! Come on, the office is this way!"

Liv waved bye to her husband and daughter as she followed Yuri towards Celestino's office.

* * *

 _Minutes later…_

After signing a couple of forms and answering several interview questions with Yuri and Celestino, they scheduled Liv's improvisation date to next week Monday afternoon.

All this time, Yuri couldn't stop smiling. So much, that Celestino asked him if he was super excited for the evening planned with Phichit.

"Yep! You bet!" Yuri nodded.

Liv smiled. "I have to say, I'm shocked to see you as someone so bright. I mean back then, I thought you were more soft spoken."

"Apparently, not today," Celestino put a hand on Yuri's shoulder. "Actually, he's been breaking out of his shell ever since Vic—"

"Victor Nikiforov became his coach," Liv finished. "He's going to be my colleague, am I right?"

Yuri stared intently at Liv, who was staring down at the desk they were sitting at. He tried to see what emotions she was feeling right now. The tension returned.

"Yeah, yes he will be," Yuri answered in a slightly quieter tone. "I mean, I'm pretty sure you already knew, you read the papers before applying, and all. Is there any problems?"

Liv shook her head and smiled like nothing was wrong at all. Yuri didn't sense any lingering doubts or regrets coming from her. It was like she got over it as soon as she said it!

"Nope, no problem. So is that it?"

Yuri and Celestino stood up, along with Liv. They all shook hands one more time. Yuri felt relief come back to him, but it wasn't the same as before. Anxiety and relief was battling violently in his stomach.

"It was very nice meeting you, Yuri, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again next week," Liv said. "You too, Celestino. Thank you for the letter of recommendation. Have a happy long weekends!"

Celestino turned to Yuri as soon as Liv was out the door. A huge smile on his face. "So, Olivia Marusic. Only two years older than you and already started a , sorry, back on topic. What do you think?"

"Seems like a nice person, and gentle too, a great balance to Victor's craziness every now and then," Yuri listed. "But it'll come down to her improvisation of my free skate song. That's when I'll know for sure, if she can truly help me and my skating career."

"I'm pretty confident that she won't fail in that," Celestino said as he stretched his arms out.

Yuri checked the time on his phone and saw a text from Phichit telling him that he's waiting for him at the park. He quickly said his goodbyes to Celestino and rushed out the rink to his car in the parking lot.

He felt very giddy as he drove down the road towards the park. He couldn't sit still and was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel in a happy rhythm. He thought that this day was going to do down the drain the minute he saw Olivia, but it didn't.

Before long, Yuri reached his destination. He quickly called Phichit to find out where exactly in the park he was waiting for him. They met at the large open concrete area in the centre of the park.

"What took you so long?" Phichit asked. "I got tired of waiting back home."

"The co-coach candidate Celestino wrote to came by to see me today," Yuri explained. "And guess what? It was _her_." Yuri winked at Phichit, trying to get him to understand.

Phichit didn't understand though. "Her?"

"Her," Yuri repeated, enounciating the word as if Phichit was an ESL.

Phichit scanned through a list of females he's familiar with through his brain, trying to pinpoint which one he had in common with Yuri. It took a few seconds of thinking, but he managed to find the answer in the end.

"Oh! Her!"

A light bulb appeared above his head but quickly flickered out as soon as he came to a full understanding of who it was Yuri just met. Phichit's jaw dropped to the ground.

"Eeeehhhh? Then why are you grinning and smiling for? Shouldn't you be crying and upset and begging me to comfort you?" Phichit tapped Yuri's forehead to see if anything's defective. "Who are you? And what you have done with my best friend?"

Yuri smiled confidently and held up his hands to get Phichit to stop poking him. "Just listen to me, ok?"

"Ok," Phichit continued to look at Yuri sceptically.

"She. Is. Already. Married."

The wind stopped blowing in the background. Phichit blinked a couple of times and shook his head to the side to get rid of any clog-ups in his ears. Yuri stood there, still smiling confidently.

"Married?" Phichit repeated.

"Yep! And a mother of two children! One of which I met today!" Yuri added.

"Oh my god, Yuri!" Phichit jumped up and down. "You see how everything turned out ok in the end!?"

"I know!" Yuri joined Phichit in jumping up and down. They literally look like two childish schoolgirls. "I'm sshhoo happy right now! She didn't even seem to be bothered by the fact she'll be working with Victor again!"

"So it's like she totally moved on!?" Phichit asked ecstatically.

"I'm pretty sure! She looks really happy with her husband and little daughter! I'm actually happy for her! Can you believe it, Phichit? Just months ago, I was fretting her very existence!"

"Time to throw away those fears and worries and move on to the future!" Phichit pointed to the sky.

"To the awesome future!" Yuri cried. "Hopefully!"

"And to naming your new male dog after your co-coach!" Phichit added.

That caught Yuri off-guard. "What? Oh, right! And to naming my new dog after her…wait, but she isn't my co-coach yet. I still have to see her improvisation to my free skate song. And then she'll be my co-coach."

"And then you'll name your dog…?" Phichit trailed off.

"Ahh, worry about that later. Priorities, man. Priorities."

* * *

 _Next Monday. Detroit Skating Club Rink. Main Arena._

Yuri sat on the sidelines as he watched Liv tie up her skates next to him. Celestino was over by the sound booth, preparing to get the song ready after she finished warming up. Yuri has been waiting all weekend for this day to come.

It's like the more he thinks about Liv, the more he relishes in the fact that she's no longer a threat. And he has all the freedom in the world to get to know about her as a person who's not Victor's previous significant other.

They've been talking since she arrived this morning, and Yuri realized that she's rather easy to talk to. She's very patient and sympathetic. There's no tension between the two of them. So far so good.

Liv finished tying up her skates and stood up to feel if they were tight enough. Yuri saw the look on her face. It was a look of anxiety and excitement.

"How long has it been since you skated competitively?" Yuri asked even though he knew that answer to the question. He was just curious to see how she'll respond to it.

"My last competition was the 2014 Olympics and I placed 5th there. I had a little accident after that and came back here. I didn't have the greatest experience in the last few years of my competitive career, so I decided to stop," Liv removed her skate guards and began walking towards the opened door to the ice. "But I never stopped practicing. And thanks to Celestino, I was able to coach several junior skaters. Plus, I performed in some ice shows every now and then, but I didn't feel ready to return to face the ISU yet. I'll tell you more after I become your co-coach, Yuri."

With that, Liv stepped onto the ice and began stroking around at a slow and gentle pace to get a good feel of the new smoothed-out surface. Yuri leaned his forearms on the boards and watched carefully.

 _There's no need for you to explain more. I already know._

Liv took her time moving around the ice and didn't attempt anything intricate as she stroked and turned. Despite her saying that she's been out of competitions since 2014, Yuri personally thought that her edges and turns were very clean.

There were just simple crossovers and Mohawk turns but they were done with beautiful precision. Every skater had their style of skating even though they all aimed to be perfect.

With Liv's, Yuri saw a light feathery style. He compares it to a water strider on a river's surface. It made him gain more respect for her as a skater. To end her warm up, she performed a quick double axel jump. It was simple and high to Yuri's surprise.

 _Didn't she have under-rotation problems?_ He thought. Liv skated to the centre of the ice to prepare for the improvisation. She gave Yuri a thumbs up and nodded at Celestino to start to the music.

The song came on and Liv took her sweet time before finally moving from her starting position and beginning the routine that she's making up as the seconds fly by. Yuri saw how contrasting her interpretation of his free skate song was to his own.

Liv moved at a much calmer pace in the beginning of the song before switching gears and suddenly going into a fast sequence of steps that lead to her first jump, an easy triple salchow. Just like the double axel, it was nice and high, leaving little room for under rotation.

She moved onto a lovely back camel spin with a catch-foot variation. It was fast and centred. Yuri could see that she specialized in spins. Good, they have something in common. It was right after that spin that Liv finally opened up herself.

Every step, every note, every thought, was connected. The sequences and turns weren't complicated but were correct. There was a lack of jumps but only because they would disrupt the flow. This is her interpretation of Yuri's song.

The intensity, the sadness, the lingering joy hidden behind every move she made. Liv was skating to show her desire to be free. Free to skate however she wants to and to express whatever she's passionate about.

 _Free from the corrupt world of competitive figure skating made by the ISU_ , Yuri thought. The song was coming to an end and Liv puts all of her energy into the last few elements she thought up of.

The climax of the song is reached and she enters a beautiful layback spin, ending it with a bielman. Liv makes her finishing pose simple and serious. She reached out with one hand with a determined look on her face while standing with both feet planted on the ice.

She quickly broke out of character as soon as the song ended. Light applause came from Yuri and Celestino, who were very surprised, to say the least, over her technical elements in her improvisation.

"Good job," Yuri said to her as she skated towards his side of the boards.

Liv smiled and sat down to remove her skates. "Thanks, was that enough?"

Celestino walked over to their side, standing next to Yuri. He gestured for Yuri to speak.

"That was exceptional," Yuri states in his honest opinion. "You knew what you were doing inside and out, even though it's an improvisation."

"Well, that'd be easy for a skater who was skating to a song they helped make." Liv puts away her skates in her bag and stood up to face her potential future student.

That sentence immediately connected the puzzle in Yuri's head. Back then when Victor mentioned that Liv had a best friend who was a composer and musician, named Holly Abelashvili (real name: Ketty). And Yuri remembered that Holly was the composer of _Yuri on Ice_. Apparently, Liv had a role in making the song that completely turned his skating career around.

* * *

 _After the free skate improvisation._

"So, Olivia's a really emotional skater, you can relate to that easily, Yuri," Celestino points out.

Yuri nods. "Yeah."

"You know, I was thinking of recommending her to you long ago, but I also wanted you to have more say in who should be your co-coach as well," Celestino admitted. "But, now—phew! I'm relieved!"

"Well…why did you recommend her?" Yuri asked. "It's not like she's renowned or anything, and this is her first time coaching too—coaching a senior-level student I mean!"

Celestino leans back in his chair and takes a big swig from his water bottle. "'Cause you two basically lived the same skating lives! You both travelled overseas during your post-secondary years with high hopes of making it big in competitive skating. But things didn't turn out too great for either of you guys. And you both ended up going back home, with no idea of what you want to do with the college degree you two held."

Yuri's eyes widen as he realized what Celestino just said was very true. This fact has never crossed his mind once when Victor was telling his backstory.

They both studied and trained abroad after graduating from high school. He went to Detroit, she went to St. Petersburg. They both wanted to be successful in competitions but failed in that. He only qualified once for major competitions, which was the Sochi GPF, and placed dead last in it! She qualified for a few handful of major competitions but was brutally and scored in all those events.

After those horrible experiences, they ultimately decided to go back to their home countries, seemingly given up on their dreams as a professional athlete.

And to top it all off. They probably got a GPA of around 2.5 or lower during their four years of college! Well, that's partly due to language barriers…

"Well…" Celestino adds. "In your case, you met the person who changed your life forever when you went back home, Victor."

 _Victor…_ the most significant link that ties him and Liv. Yuri swivels in his chair to face Celestino.

"Yeah. Liv knows Victor too," Yuri answers.

"Well of course she does, duh. Anyone who's a skater knows him. It's like universal."

"No, I mean, she _knows_ _him_ knows him," Yuri clarifies.

He was completely ok with hiring Liv as his co-coach, but he can't promise nothing complicated will happen. So to prevent complications. He might as well be honest with everyone involved.

So another fallout between coach and student won't happen again.

Celestino looks at his former student in the eyes. "What do you mean, 'know him know him'?"

Yuri felt his face grow hot as thousands of possibilities for what could happen down the road entered his mind. _To speak or not to speak...this is no time for William Shakespeare, Yuri!_

"I'm going to tell you something, and please don't think of it as just a petty problem. Liv's his ex."

"His what?" Celestino blinks.

"His previous one."

Yuri feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his chest, Celestino looks very calm even after being told all that. He nods understandingly and leans back in his chair again.

"Ohhhh," Celestino looked calm. But then those words finally penetrated his brain. "What? For real? Was this the whole reason for that fallout between you and Victor in the first place?"

Yuri rests his forehead against his fists and nods. Celestino gives off the presence of someone he could lean on for support. Yuri believes that he's got his back if he ever needs him.

"Don't get wrong, I hold no grudges against her currently. I'm more confident now and I'll handle things professionally," Yuri said. "I need—I want a co-coach so that I can become the skater Victor wishes to see. I need to fulfil my end of the promise. Actually, the new promise."

"What's the new promise?" Celestino asked curiously. "You never mentioned it."

Yuri's eyes and smile shone with determination. He put his hands down on the desk in front of Celestino. "To win gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics."

Excitement and shock filled Celestino as he jumped up and hugged his past student. "You've really changed, Yuri! I—I don't know what to say, except that I'm so proud of you!"

Yuri laughed. He too was filled with excitement. The thought of winning gold at the 2018 Olympics would have seemed like something impossible back when he was in the washroom at the Sochi GPF. But now seemed like a 100m sprint across the schoolyard.

As long as he didn't trip or lag behind. He'll get it. He has to. He has to be the skater that could!

Celestino scribbles some notes on a sticky pad before handing Yuri a package of documents. "Ok, as long as you're ok with this, she's hired. Just get her to sign her signatures in the package. Then it's official! You guys can schedule how you want to train, but I suggest getting to know each other better on a personal level before getting all professional. And of course, you're going to have to…tell Victor his new colleague is his…"

"Yep." Yuri pursed his lips at the thought of it. "That's going to be one awkward meeting to say the least."

* * *

 _St. Petersburg._

Victor was having a fun evening out with a bunch of his rinkmates. They were giving Constantine an early unofficial bachelor's party at a bowling alley. And so far, none of them has gotten any strikes.

Yurio goes in for another strike, but only managed to get half of the pins down. Norah laughed exaggeratively at his failure and attempts a strike herself. But knocks only half of the pins as well.

Mila coughs for their attention and strode confidently up to the lane. "Watch and learn."

All the skaters gave her their utmost attention, preparing to be entertained. Constantine clapped and cheered. "Let's go, Mila! Woo!"

Taking a few steps back to give herself room to rush forward, Mila holds the heavy ball in her right hand and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes wide as she propelled herself forward and released the ball at the perfect time.

It rolled down the centre of the lane and hits the first pin, which caused a chain reaction which knocked nine out of the ten pins.

All of the skaters gapped in shock. They were expecting an epic fail, but Mila did pretty amazingly surprisingly! She turned around and was met with cheers and applause from her rinkmates and a few other spectators.

That is until another crash of a bowling ball hitting the pins was heard.

Max, who was standing in the lane next to Mila, just rolled his ball and it managed to hit the centre pin and knocked down all of the pins at the end of the lane.

 _STRIKE!_ The screen above them read.

The entire alley broke out in cheering, screaming, and clapping as Max shrugged like it was nothing and took a quick bow before sitting down at the table where his rinkmates were at.

"Watch and learn from me, Mila," Max winked.

Mila pointed at him. "I demand a rematch!"

Max's eyes widened in amusement. "Why not?"

For the next few minutes, the two skaters battle it out in how many strikes they could do. And Mila constantly shouting that Max is cheating or that it's because her shoes don't fit her. Victor sat back and laughed at the silly little competition.

Then his cell phone rang. He quickly left the room and into the quiet hallway to answer the call. His face lit up when he saw who it was.

"Yuri!" He cried. "How are you? I'm excited to see you again, soon!"

"Hi, Victor. I am too! Anyways, so um, I think after months of searching to no end, I'm proud to say I found my co-coach at last!" Yuri gave a thumbs on his side of the call.

"Really!? Great! Who is he? Or is it a she? Wait, hold on!" Victor sounded serious. "Will this person you hired be able to tolerate my overeccentricness?"

Yuri laughed a little. "I'm pretty sure, she can handle it. Actually, I'm certain."

"Phew! That's a relief! I mean, I don't want this co-coach thing to last for two weeks because she can't handle my tendency to go over the top!" Victor felt very relieved knowing that Yuri found another person he could trust his skating with. "Who is she by the way?"

"Victor," Yuri said after a few seconds of staying silent. "I think it's best if you two meet in person rather than me telling you over the phone. It'd be more…appropriate."

Victor looked confused and wondered why Yuri would say that. But he didn't question it. "Ok. I'm fine with that. When and where do you want to meet?"

"The Worlds is being held in Finland on the 1st of April this year, right?" Yuri asked.

"Yeah."

"Ok, we'll meet you there. Ok?"

"Ok."

Relief washed over Yuri. He said a quick goodbye before hanging up the phone. He's currently sitting in the living room couch of his co-coach, Liv's, house. She appeared from the kitchen holding a bowl of grapes in one hand and holding her baby boy, Miguel, in the other arm.

Yuri smiled and gave her a thumbs up as she sat down on the chair next to him. "It should go well, the meeting. At least, I hope so."

Liv smiled as well. "Me too. I wouldn't want conflict to arise between us because that would affect you too, Yuri. And as a result, your performance. I'm not about to let another skater fall victim to the ISU's corrupted side."

"You…really hold a grudge against them," Yuri said, then took another grape. "I can only imagine. I was underscored only once I think, and that was during the NHK Trophy last year. Most of my fails are due to my nerves and inconsistency."

"At least you were deducted points because you fell. You don't want to know what it feels like to sit in the kiss-and-cry, hoping that today is the day you finally showed those judges you're more than what they thought, that you're talented. And then to have your hopes crushed when you saw those numbers." Liv scrunched her non-carrying fist tightly. "You will be scored according to what you ask for, Yuri. I won't help much in your technical department, but I'll make sure your presentation will be the best the world has seen."

* * *

 **Alright, and that's it for this chapter, folks! :D Satisfied, not satisifed? Do tell me what you think of either this chapter of the Olympics right now in the REVIEWS! :D**


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